As I may have mentioned before, the Richmond Metro Convention & Visitor’s Bureau is my employer. Which is why I’m pleased to announce that cutting edge Richmond will offer Segway tours of the city in as groups as large as 30 at a time. The new “Give Me Liberty Historic Segway Tours” will start this month. Yes, you know, those mini-stand up motorcycle thingys. I can just see a herd of 30 now, bumping along the cobblestone in Shockoe Slip.
Several months ago, Richmond Tours, run by James River Bus Lines, stopped operating the local tour because it just wasn’t profitable for them. Now, every weekend when I work, I have to tell many disappointed visitors that we just don’t have a comprehensive tour of the city. Many stare at me in disbelief.
Anyway, despite that fact that this sounds like an awesome April Fool’s joke — It is not. And, personally, I couldn’t be happier. I think it is a great idea in concept and I hope it flies. Now if we can just get the visitors, who had envisioned sitting on a bus for 3 hours to imagine standing on a Segway for that long, we’ll be in business.

Segway Tours Start at Visitor Center in April
Beginning in April, guests to the Richmond Region can see the city in a whole new way. Guided Segway tours will depart daily from the Visitor Center in groups as large as 30. Segways are safe, fun, easy to use and provide a totally unique way to tour downtown Richmond. For more information contact Segway of Richmond.

The University of Richmond held the first of two public hearings last night regarding the new football stadium proposed on campus. Neighbors are concerned that traffic for the stadium, which will hold almost 9,000 people, will be a problem.

NBC12 reports:

Right now, the Spiders play at the hard-to-fill stadium near Carytown. Construction on the new campus stadium can’t begin until the city of Richmond approves a special-use permit – which likely won’t happen until early June.

The Spiders hope to take to the new field in fall of 2010. A second public meeting is scheduled for April 29 at Weinstein Hall.

Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris USA, officially started operating in Henrico on Monday.

Altria bid farewell Friday to New York City and joins its Henrico County-based subsidiary, Philip Morris USA, the nation’s largest cigarette maker, in Virginia.

The move was expected, having been announced as a next step after Altria spun off its international cigarette division. Philip Morris International became a stand-alone unit Friday.

The relocation won’t bring many employees to the Richmond area — company officials have said only a small number made the move from New York. Philip Morris USA had 5,630 full-time equivalent employees in the Richmond area as of Jan. 1.

But the move helps keep the Richmond area on an even keel in the number of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies that have headquarters here.

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Join the Friends of Bandy Park, and Richmond City Parks and Rec and help plant seedlings at Bandy Field Friday starting at 2 p.m.

The University of Richmond has donated 135 seedling trees, which student volunteers from the university and members of the non-profit citizen group, Friends of Bandy Field, will help Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities plant at Bandy Field Nature Park on Friday, April 4, starting at 2 p.m.

The park is located on Three Chopt Road west of Patterson Avenue near the university.

The tree planting is one of the programs planned in conjunction with the April 10-11 inauguration of the university’s new president, Edward L. Ayers, and reflects the university’s focus on protecting the environment. As part of President Ayer’s inauguration, the university is donating a total of 178 trees that will be planted in various locations around the city—in honor of the university’s 178-year history.

University of Richmond police are investigating the simulated lynching of a miniature black doll as a possible hate crime.

“When I actually saw what had been done, it took my breath away,” said Walter Schoen, chairman of the university’s department of theater and dance, who discovered the figure hanging by a noose in a small studio theater.

Schoen described the green and red elf-like character as a Christmas decoration that has been around for at least the past two years. It was brought to school by a student as part of a fraternity initiation ceremony that involved giving a present, he said.

Just under 2 feet tall and considered female, the figure had become a good-luck charm, Schoen said, that was kept in the lighting booth.

“Some of the kids would even talk to it,” Schoen said.

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The Near West End’s St. James Armenian Church Education Center is sponsoring this unique event at St. Pump Middle School Auditorium, on April 26th at 7:30 p.m.

ZULAL, An Armenian A Capella Trio
Zulal, which means clarity and purity in Armenian, identifies the
trio’s intricate arrangements that pays tribute to the musics rural
roots. Three different voices blend to create a vocal landscape of
village stories.

Past Performances:
Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Cirque du Soleil

Adult: $20
All Students:$10
Advanced Ticket Sales and Information: (804) 288-33162.
Sponsored by The St. James Armenian Church Education Center and the
Baronian Cultural Fund

The Compass Club of Mary Munford is sponsoring a pancake breakfast, Featuring Mr. Muzik’s famous Buckwheat Pancakes to raise money for children in Southeast Asia.
Also, come help clean up the Munford playground, you know you’ll likely have lots of energy to burn after eating all those pancakes!
Date: April 26th
Time: 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
Cost: $5 for adults, $4 for children
Come enjoy Principal Muzik’s Buckwheat Pancakes, Sausage and Orange Juice
This is a fundraising even for Munford’s Compass Club. During the breakfast, the children will educate people about the plight of children who live in the developing world.

Henrico County Public Schools kindergarten registration will be held April 29 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at every elementary school in the county.

Children who will be 5 years old on or before Sept. 30 are eligible to attend kindergarten in the 2008-09 school year.

Parents must bring their child’s official state birth certificate and proof of residence to registration. To show proof of residence, parents must bring three items — a current utility bill, a picture identification and one of the following: a house contract, lease agreement, rent receipt, mortgage statement or tax assessment.

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