Updates from Henrico Citizen

For seven years now, outdoor enthusiast Connie Henshaw has been dreaming of the day she would through-hike the Appalachian Trail after graduation from college in 2016. But she was barely into her freshman year at Virginia Tech when a tragic turn of events upended her plans, and she pulled out of spring semester classes to hit the trail in March – three years early.

(Left to right) Calvin Parsons, Travis Mann and Dill Driscoll walk down West Broad Street on May 8 as part of the 2013 Carry the Load National Relay. Carry the Load was founded in 2011 by former Navy SEAL Clint Bruce to make Memorial Day more meaningful, said Mann, a Navy pilot. It asks members to “carry the load” for veterans who have died or were wounded.

Nineteen students scribbled numbers furiously on their whiteboards while the red numbers counted down from 20 seconds. Then, a buzzer rang, and they excitedly held up their answers, with some even yelling “Three!” to make sure everyone knew they got it right. With that question – “Which digit in 3,098,427 is in the millions place” – the 2012-2013 Battle of the Brains final competition at Lakeside Elementary School on May 8 came to a close.

Associates at The Village at Horsepen (from left: Jeremy Armstrong, Jennifer Besch, Donald Gaines, Anthony Baham, Earl Smith, Erin McGrath, David Hopkins) gathered recently at the neighborhood entrance to celebrate receiving the Paragon Award from the National Apartment Association.

Kim Maham and Barry Maham Jr., (pictured with a painting of their late father, Office Barry Maham Sr.) were among those in attendance at the 2013 Henrico Police Memorial service May 17 at the Henrico Public Safety Training Center.

Glen Allen High School students will receive a day with the UNITE International Texting Simulator on May 21, after a group of students from the school won the 2013 “Arrive Alive PSA Contest,” sponsored by Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety (YOVASO), UNITE International, and the Virginia State Police Association (VSPA). Glen Allen’s public service announcement focused on the dangers of texting while driving and posed the question, “Is it worth it?”

Virginia Home for Boys and Girls (VHBG) Teaching-Parents Tojoniaina Ratianarivo and Andrew Parker were recently re-certified as Teaching Parents from the Teaching-Family Association (TFA). This is the third time for both of them. Teaching-Parents at VHBG live in group homes with at-risk youth to create a family environment and to give the youth the opportunity to grow up in a safe, loving, nurturing household. TFA Certification indicates a high level of satisfaction with the quality of the Teaching-Parent’s services from their youth, community stakeholders and administration.

Glen Allen resident Bob Layton has written a book that details nearly 100 lesser-known monuments located throughout the City of Richmond. Discovering Richmond Monuments: A History of River City Landmarks Beyond the Avenue reviews the overlooked contributors lining the streets, parks and buildings of Richmond and provides insight into the development of the city and how it rose from a tiny spot at the falls to become a leader in manufacturing, the arts, and finance and gain the status of “Wall Street of the South.”

The Henrico County Division of Police will offer rabies vaccines for dogs and cats from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 18 at the Henrico County Government Center, 4301 E. Parham Road. The clinic will be on the first level of the parking deck adjacent to the Administration Building.

It’s a month yet before the curtain rises on opening night of Les Miserables at Collegiate School – but in true Christian Youth Theater tradition, all seven performances are completely and predictably sold out. Yes, the legendary musical is a popular one – the longest running musical in the world. But when the Broadway production passed through Richmond in March, it did not enjoy nearly as receptive an audience as the CYT Richmond adaptation. Nor nearly as proud an audience, either.

Family, friends, colleagues and students of George H. Moody Middle School teacher Carol Kenzer gathered May 10 to remember a kind, funny and unforgettable woman. “Mrs. Kenzer changed my life in a way that she would probably never recognize,” said Charlie Bonner, a junior in the Center for Leadership, Government and Global Economics at Douglas S. Freeman High School and a former student of Kenzer's. He noted how her passion and encouragement had led him to work on several political campaigns.

As part of Mental Health Awareness Month this month, artwork by students at the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls will be on display at Crossroads Art Center, 2016 Staples Mill Road, from May 17 to June 17. Items include sketches, pop art and sculptures. VHBG serves as a home for about 50 at-risk youngsters and helps many who are struggling with mental health disorders. The organization held a walkathon May 1 (organized by students) and raised more than $2,000 for education, research and advocacy for suicide prevention.

More than 2,000 cyclists from as far away as Arizona, Maine, Michigan and even Vatican City flocked to Richmond May 11 for the 2013 Cap2Cap, in which participants bike between Virginia's modern and colonial capitals on rides ranging from 25 to 100 miles in length. Among volunteers greeting riders afterwards in the lunch tent at Rocketts Landing was Jacquelin Wade, shown hugging her friend Tera Holland, events coordinator and athlete liaison at Richmond Multisports. Holland, a first-timer at the Cap2Cap, had just finished the 25-miler and pronounced it "a blast!"

Henrico County Police is seeking the public's assistance in identifying and locating a suspect in a bank robbery this morning in the Willow Lawn area. At approximately 9 a.m., a man described as a black male, 20-35 years old, 5 foot 8, wearing a blue hooded sweat shirt and sunglasses, entered the Suntrust Bank located in the 1600 block of Willow Lawn Drive and passed a note to the teller demanding money.

Amy Wilson says she didn’t choose home schooling; her son did. “My son chose home schooling when he was about 3. I didn’t realize that’s what was happening at the time. We tried having him go to preschool, and it was not a good fit for him,” said Wilson, the government affairs director for the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers.

Henrico County Public Schools recently named Taylor Snow, a social studies teacher at Moody Middle School, as the winner of the 2013 Gilman Teacher of the Year Award, and Alexandra Mendez- Zfass, a teacher at Highland Springs Elementary, as the winner of the First Year Teacher of the Year Award. The two were honored earlier this month at the 2013 Gilman Teacher of the Year Awards Ceremony held at Glen Allen High School.

Holman Middle School’s Technology Student Association (TSA) chapter recently won the Arvid W. Van Dyke Outstanding Middle School Award at “Technosphere 2013” – the third consecutive year that the group claimed the award. The honor is presented to the best middle and high school TSA chapters in Virginia and is earned by competing in individual and team competitions that explore topics such as digital photography, prepared speech, VEX robotics, medical technology and structural engineering.

After three months and 30,000 pies of preparation, this year's Lebanese Food Festival is set to take place May 17-19 on the 15-acre campus of St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church in Glen Allen. The 29th installment of the three-day festival is expected to draw more than 20,000 attendees for food and entertainment, said Sandra Joseph Brown, a member of the Lebanese Food Festival Committee.

On three separate occasions in April and May of 2013, several hundred dollars’ worth of men’s and women’s fragrances were stolen from a beauty salon store in the 9900 block of Brook Road. In the surveillance photos shown, the suspect can be seen on two separate occasions. The suspect is described as a black female, possibly in her 40s, approximately 6 feet feet tall, weighing approximately 180 pounds. She may be operating a light colored Mercury Sedan.

Virginia’s suicide rate is the highest it’s been in 13 years, according to the state’s chief medical examiner. Experts say the causes may include the poor economy and lack of mental health services. In 2011, the most recent year for which data are available, there were 1,067 suicides in the state – 12.6 suicides per 100,000 residents. The numbers have risen steadily since 2003, when there were 804 suicides, a rate of 10.9 suicides per 100,000 population.