Front Porch Chat with Rosie Breeden

I often have front-porch chats with my neighbor Rosie. She's an absolute master of this important and neglected form of social interaction. She agreed to go on-the-record this time around.

Peter: Did I hear your birthday’s coming up?

Rosie: This September. The 25th.

[I didn’t ask her age because that would be rude.]

Peter: How long have you lived here?

Rosie: Since 1969.

Where did you come from before?

The University area—right where the hospital is now. We lived in a house in that area.

Why did you choose this house?

This was the one we could afford! It wasn’t very expensive then.

Catching Up with the Santa of Mountain View

You have to be a pretty cool character to be profiled twice on this blog. North Pole cold, in fact!

We stopped by Mountainview Street to check in with Jeff Norford and the Santa of Mountainview. They will be included in the forthcoming cell phone audio tour. Their open-handed generosity and considerable commitment of time and money [not to mention their wackiness] exemplify the spirit that creates great communities.

They always get alot of well-justified press and they were recently interviewed in the C-Ville Weekly. I chose to avoid the inevitable questions about the electric bill.

Here's our conversation. The audio version will be ready soon.

Monticello Road: How’s it going this year? Is it exciting?

Norford: Yeah, it’s great. Every year it gets better and better. We have more and more people show up.

MR: How far do people come from? Is everyone local?

Norford: All over the world. We have people come from all over.

Santa: Well last year we had them come from about 2 countries. This year so far it’s been about four or five.

Norford: We had a lady from England, I know of, then some from Africa. From Thailand, China. From Japan. All over.

Monticello Road Audio Tour: Downtown Belmont

For the latest stop on the audio tour, we spoke with Greg Jackson, architect and neighborhood president, about "Downtown Belmont" and what makes it so special. There are about 45 minutes of great recording, which we may share some time, but for the audio tour, we've distilled three short segments.

In the first clip, Greg describes Downtown Belmont. For out-of-town visitors, "Downtown Belmont" is an area where Monticello Road passes, oblique through the grid and creates a series of corners that yields a small but thriving commercial district in the midst of a residential neighborhood. This phenomenon has continued for nearly a century and its current incarnation is anchored by several independent restaurants, several of which are internationally acclaimed.

Next, he talks about pedestrian-friendly neighborhood commercial districts, and why mixed use--if carefully done--can be a huge benefit and attraction:

Finally, he talks about the origins of the new sidewalk enhancements, and what they can do for the area:

The Monticello Road Audio Tour is an extension of the Charlottesville Audio Tour in cooperation with Charlottesville Historic Resources and Preservation. Special thanks to Amanda Henry for transcribing the interview. Monticello Road is an art/community project in Charlottesville Virginia.

Monticello Road Audio Tour: Lazy Daisy

Lazy Daisy Ceramics was one of the first businesses I discovered when I arrived on Monticello Road. When I told Sonny and Novella about my project, they were quick to help. Sonny has been in the neighborhood in various capacities all his life and Novella has ever since the business moved here in the seventies. Both have seen a lot and are master storytellers.

It was impossible to distill even the highlights of our conversation into my 120 second limit, so I broke the narration into two segments. In the first, Sonny talks about the neighborhood and the history of his building.



In the second segment, Novella talks about the business and how it has changed.



The Monticello Road Audio Tour is an extension of the Charlottesville Audio Tour in cooperation with Charlottesville Historic Resources and Preservation. Special thanks to Tara at Lazy Daisy for arranging the interview. Monticello Road is an art/community project in Charlottesville Virginia.

Monticello Road Audio Tour: VA Industries for the Blind

Virginia Industries for the Blind is one of the oldest and most important enterprises along Monticello Road. It's quiet exterior hides a hive of activity and gives no sense of the fascinating people who work there. The latest installment in our audio tour goes behind the scenes to meet some of them. [Listen to Clip | Read Profile]

VIB has been a early and enthusiastic supporter of the Monticello Road Project. I would like to thank James, Peggy, Preston, Jeff, William and all the staff there who have been so welcoming. If Clark has the brains of Monticello Road, VIB is the heart.

The Monticello Road Audio Tour is an extension of the Charlottesville Audio Tour in cooperation with Charlottesville Historic Resources and Preservation. Special thanks to Jim Meehan for narrating this clip. Monticello Road is an art/community project in Charlottesville Virginia.

Monticello Road Audio Tour: Old Belmont Bridge

The Belmont Bridge is the gateway that unites Belmont with downtown Charlottesville. It's the beginning of Monticello Road. In the previous entry in this thread, we heard about Monticello Road's opposite [truncated] end, out past the edge of town. Here we get close to the heart of town and this will be the logical first stop in the cell phone audio tour.

The audio tour will eventually have ten stops (some with multiple narrations).

For now, enjoy this one, in which Preston Coiner, Diane Graves and Rosie Breedin remember the old Belmont Bridge, as it existed when they were kids. It was a gateway for them too. Big thanks to Pete O'Shea for his opening narration.

The Monticello Road Audio Tour is an extension of the Charlottesville Audio Tour in cooperation with Charlottesville Historic Resources and Preservation. Special thanks to Chris Gensic for narrating this clip. Monticello Road is an art/community project in Charlottesville Virginia.

Celebrate Monticello Road at Tom Tom

A year after the main Monticello Road events, we're still celebrating the community. On Sunday, April 14, we're joining the Tom Tom Founders Fest Closing Party, which is taking place at the Bridge PAI--right back where we started.

We'll do another Pop-up Photo Booth, record stories for the Cell Phone Audio Tour, and if the space is available we'll show the Community Slide Show. We'll have books for sale as well.

The block party starts at 2:00 p.m. and runs until 9:00. We'll be there sometime in the afternoon and into the evening. Stop by, get your picture taken (and a free print), record your impressions, and help us celebrate our wonderful community!

Volunteers/collaborators are needed for the photo booth. Contact me if you can help.

The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative is located at 209 Monticello Road, across from Sputnuts.

Monticello Road Audio Tour: Ghost Road Stop

The Monticello Road cell phone audio tour will provide visitors and residents with a deeper experience and appreciation of one of America's most interesting neighborhoods.

It will consist of a series of nine narrated tour stops along the length of Monticello Road, each with a sign including a phone number and/or a QR code that will call audio narrations about the sites in the voices of the local people. If all goes according to plan, geolocation will also be available.

The project is expected to be ready this summer, at which time we'll produce a map and a series of public events.

For now, take a listen to Stop #9, which explores the historic extension of the road, past its dead end at Moore's Creek.

The Monticello Road Audio Tour is an extension of the Charlottesville Audio Tour in cooperation with Charlottesville Historic Resources and Preservation. Special thanks to Chris Gensic for narrating this clip. Monticello Road is an art/community project in Charlottesville Virginia.

Autumn Folklore Opportunities

Monticello Road has more than its share of history and colorful storytellers. This autumn, you'll be able to see/hear/join them.

Just as the photography phase of the project was wrapping up this summer, I heard from exactly the right person to help us move onto the next stage: oral histories.

Kristin Rourke is a public historian who is working with the City on several ventures related to oral histories and historic preservation. In a coup of divine grace her efforts this fall focus on Belmont and she has agreed to help with the oral histories and audio tour of Monticello Road.

I couldn't dream up a better collaborator. She is responsible for the very cool audio tour of downtown Charlottesville and is coordinating many of the City’s oral history efforts. She brings exactly the skills and resources we need.

This fall, we begin work on a nine-station cell-phone tour of Monticello Road. We’ll hear from and about many of the people and places we’ve met throughout the project and the signpost kiosks will give the project a real and lasting legacy in the community. More about that soon.

In the meantime, there are a few ways you can jump right in and take part in the neighborhood storysharing.

The Where I Live… Stories from Yesterday and Today series invites neighborhood residents and the greater Charlottesville community to gather together and talk about where they live. The September 30 session focuses on Belmont and will be a chance to share and hear stories about the Belmont of yesteryear and today. That’s Sunday September 30 3-5 p.m. at Cville Coffee.

This year, Preservation Piedmont’s Fall Tour will focus on Belmont and the story it tells about working communities in Charlottesville. The event takes place on Saturday, October 13, from 11:00 to 12:30, with a guided walking tour of Western Belmont, led by Kristin and landscape architect Laura Knott. The tour will be a discussion of the history of the Frank Ix and Sons textile factory and the houses throughout Belmont that the company built for its employees, as well as an inside tour of one of these houses.

On Sunday, October 14, from 2-5, Preservation Piedmont will host the Open House Tour, which will feature a variety of homes, structures, and sites in and around Downtown Belmont. The recommended route begins on the grounds of the Ficklin/Belmont Mansion at 759 Belmont Avenue.

As we move into our next phase, keep checking in to learn more about the exciting autumn of neighborhood history and folklore. For more information about Charlottesville's historic celebrations, please visit www.charlottesville.org/historicresources or call (434) 970-3333. You can also read more about future discussions at http://celebrate250.com/

What's Next

 
Special thanks to Lulu Miller whose recordings of the Story Sharing could be the basis of the project's coolest piece, which is yet to come. 

The Monticello Road exhibition and all the events around it certainly felt like an accomplishment, but it’s important to remember that the project isn’t done yet. While it will never really be over, we do have a few specific pieces lined up for the near future.

First I’m going to huddle with Lulu to figure out what to do with the amazing audio she captured at the storytelling session. We’ll make it available to the world somehow—either as archived audio or perhaps transcripts.

The oral histories are perhaps the most exciting part of the project with the most potential. My ultimate scheme is to create a walking tour along Monticello Road with kiosks or signs along the way with links to historical or atmospheric audio available to anyone with a cell phone. We could connect with the existing downtown audio tour and perhaps the visitor’s bureau.

There will be another photo booth at Moore’s Creek Family Restaurant, and hopefully there will be an audio component to that. The only thing about the exhibition that wasn’t perfect was that no one from Moore’s Creek made it to the story sharing. As you know by now, I’m not easily discouraged and I know we’ll get it.

In July, the exhibition will travel to its summer quarters at the Local. More details on that soon, but the most exciting piece will be a neighborhood slide show on select nights that will be visible to passers by.

Soon we will begin work on the next “road” project. Sorry, but the subject matter is still secret for now.

Keep checking back for more details!