Home for the Holidays ~ "The Night Before"

The City’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities is proud to present Home for the Holidays ~ “The Night Before” which is a dance adaptation of the famous poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” on Sunday, Dec. 6, at the Altria Theater. The show will begin at 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, so it is suggested to arrive early.

The show will feature participants enrolled in the department’s dance classes, as well as the City Dance Theatre.

“Guaranteed to be a fun filled afternoon, Home for the Holidays ~ “The Night Before” is a great showcase of talent that will appeal to all ages,” said Dr. Norman C. Merrifield, Director of the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities.

For more information, please call (804) 646-3677.

Celebrate Spring!!

The Depatment of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities will celebrate the arrival of spring with community based festivals on Wednesday, April 8, 2014. Festivals will include events such as an egg hunt, face painting (at some locations), arts and crafts, and much more!

All festivals are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the individual community center.

Randolph Community Center Presents: "Bak n da Day" Concert Cafe

Join the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities as we continue celebrating the holiday season with local singing group "Bak n da Day."  

Celebrate the Holiday Season!

Carols at Noon is a free holiday concert series in partnership with Richmond Public Schools.  Featuring school choirs from across the city, each concert is expected to last approximately 20 minutes.

City to Host Annual Holiday Opera

The Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities will host the beloved children’s opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors” on Sunday, December 8 at 4 p.m. at the Landmark Theater located at 6 North Laurel Street.

One of Richmond’s longest running traditions; the Department has offered free performances of this opera since the 1960s.  Pegged as the unofficial kick-off to the holiday festivities in the Richmond area, “Amahl and the Night Visitors” is perhaps the most recognized holiday opera experience for children of all ages. “This outstanding production exposes youngsters and adults to the medium of opera and brings together diverse communities to share in a common holiday tradition,” says Dr. Norman C. Merrifield, director of Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities.

The opera was written in 1951 by Gian-Carlo Menotti and focuses on Amahl, a young peasant shepherd boy with a talent for embellishing fact with a varnish of fantasy.  As the opera opens, Amahl is very excited because he has seen a truly strange and wondrous star outside, one with a long tail the likes of which he has never seen. His Mother dismisses his news, but a knock on their door reveals three kings who are following that very star.  The story unfolds as shepherds come from far and near to observe the visitors, and ultimately leads to the magic of a Christmas miracle.

Staging director George C. Macklin, Jr. will be retiring after a 49-year affiliation with the production, having started as King Balthazar before taking over the director’s chair.  He is joined by assistant director Charmaine McGilvary and music director Diana Covington Greer.  Principal cast members include Matthew Barbieri as Amahl, Bekah Hughes Davis as his Mother, J. David Clatterbuck, Raymond Elmore, and Ben Miller as the Kings Kaspar, Balthazar, and Melchior respectively, and Stanley Fountain as the Page.

This event is free to the public.  Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. and no reservations are necessary. For more information, please call (804) 646-1031.

Veterans Day Program Scheduled at Byrd Park Carillon

The city of Richmond will host a Veterans Day Ceremony on Friday, November 11, at 4 p.m. at the World War I Memorial Carillon in Byrd Park. “The city of Richmond is proud to honor the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces, and we will never forget their courage and commitment to protecting our freedom and fighting for the rights of the oppressed,” said Mayor Dwight C. Jones.

     

     Among the selections to be performed by the widely-praised Cantare Choir will be an Algonquin prayer written by Kenneth Swift Eagle Custalow of the Mattaponi Native American Tribe and A Prayer of Desmond Tutu by British Composer and Conductor James Whitbourn.

     For more information, call (804) 646-1031.

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The City’s department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities is organizing the event which will include an invocation from Reverend Angelyn Poe, a concert on the Carillon bells by City carillonneur Larry Robinson, vocal selections by the Cantare Choir of the Greater Richmond Children’s Choir, and the presentation of a memorial wreath in honor of the Nation’s veterans.

Day of Service Project Scheduled in Bryan Park

Please join the Friends of Bryan Park and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities in celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and the National Day of Service by volunteering for a Bryan Park environmental cleanup project. The work will take place on January 17 from 9:30 a.m. to noon in Bryan Park. This ’Day On, Not A Day Off’ project is endorsed by Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ Neighbor-to-Neighbor initiative, which encourages Richmond residents to get involved to help “Build a Better Richmond.”
Volunteers are needed to help cleanup the park’s floodplains and remove trash and debris from areas along the park’s creek beds and lake. This is an opportunity to give something back to the city, as well as to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and would be a great activity for individuals, service groups or teens.
All volunteers should wear heavy shoes or work boots, bring their own work gloves if possible, and meet at the park’s Shelter #1 at 9:30 a.m. to receive trash bags, assignments and instructions.
Bryan Park is located at 4308 Hermitage Road. The entrance to the park is just north of the I-95 entrance ramp. Park signs will provide directions to Shelter #1.
For more information and to register, call (804) 646-5454, visit http://www.richmondgov.com/ and click on the ‘Day On, Not A Day Off’ link, or e-mail Carla.Childs@RichmondGov.com.