Vee WrightCONSULTING LLC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Groups Announce 100-Year Commemoration of the Church Hill Tunnel Collapse

Historians, Community Members as well as Some Local, Regional, State, and Federal Elected Officials Are Expected to Give Remarks

RICHMOND, Va. – Sept. 19, 2025 – The Friends of Jefferson Park and the Church Hill Association (in collaboration with the City of Richmond) today announced plans for the 100-Year Commemoration of the Church Hill Tunnel Collapse. 

A ceremony to remember this tragedy, which occurred in what is now Jefferson Park on Oct. 2, 1925, is planned for Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, near the site of the incident.

Following a guided walking tour at 5:30 p.m. led by Rachel Pater (Richmond Story House) along the tunnel's path from Libby Hill Park, the ceremony will begin at 6:15 p.m. It will honor the memory of the workers who lost their lives, recognize the survivors, and reflect on this pivotal moment in Richmond’s history.

The program will include a musical prelude, remarks from historians, community members, elected officials, and others. The evening will conclude with a moment of reflection as attendees depart holding battery-operated candles.

For more background on the commemoration, you may find these resources helpful:

• Wikipedia: Church Hill Tunnel

• VPM Article on the Collapse

• Richmond Story House Audio Tour

For more information and to confirm attendance, please contact Vee Wright using the details above.

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About the Church Hill Tunnel Collapse:(https://bit.ly/3HGhvV9) On Oct. 2, 1925, a section of the Church Hill Tunnel collapsed during work on an upgrade project, trapping a steam locomotive and several work cars. The disaster resulted in multiple fatalities and the eventual sealing of the tunnel, which remains entombed to this day.

About the Richmond Story House (https://www.richmondstoryhouse.org/): Founded in 2017, Richmond Story House opened its doors with free drop-in community writing workshops around founder Rachel Pater’s kitchen table. Low to no cost offerings to community members and partners in Richmond’s East End, racial and ethnic affinity groups and mobile workshops at area schools, elder care centers, and at regional correctional facilities soon followed. In 2019, Richmond Story House found a home in a shared collaborative space with Milk River Arts, a neurodiverse community of artists. 

We’re excited to continue to build on this legacy and our belief that sharing stories can validate our unique voices, build bridges of understanding and empathy across differences, and serve as a catalyst for personal, community, and social change.

About the Friends of Jefferson Park (FoJP), (https://verdantrichmond.org/friends-of-jefferson-park/): The Friends of Jefferson Park was founded in 1996 by area residents driven by a mission to increase the diversity of tree species, improve tree health, and to assist the City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities with improving the accessibility and functionality of the park. Since its founding, the group’s mission has expanded to park cleanups and to improving and increasing park amenities such as playground equipment, a fitness trail with exercise stations, and a decorative fountain overlooking the park’s iconic view of the city’s skyline.

About the Church Hill Association (CHA), (https://www.churchhill.org/): With roots dating to 1964, the Church Hill Association is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to preserve our history and create our community’s future. Our purpose is to advance our community’s collective quality of life through education and charitable activities, including infrastructure development, historic preservation, health and safety, community amenities, and the general common good.

CONTACT
Vee Wright

Vee WrightCONSULTING LLC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Louisiana Delta Community College Granted Full Accreditation Status

Regional accrediting body lifts 12-month probation, citing the college’s compliance with educational and fiscal requirements

MONROE, La — June  21, 2019 — The 12-month probation imposed on Louisiana Delta Community College has been lifted, meaning the college has full accreditation status, according to Dr. Dan Corsi, LDCC Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs.

In June 2018, the college was placed on probation for failure to meet standards for reporting student assessments and financial responsibility. The probation was imposed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

“SACSCOC has given us their stamp of approval,” Dr. Corsi says. “We have complete accreditation status: no probation. We are not on monitoring or anything like that. We are in complete compliance.”

The Special Committee found that LDCC successfully satisfied the requirements of Standard 8.2.a (student assessment) and Standard 13.3 (financial responsibility). The committee noted the institution’s “necessary steps to restore its financial health and is managing its financial resources in a responsible manner.”

Dr. Corsi praised the faculty and task force: “LDCC and the faculty are committed to academic excellence and we were able to meet the demands of our regional accreditor in a very short timeframe.”

Fall semester classes at LDCC begin August 19.

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ABOUT LOUISIANA DELTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
LDCC is an open-admissions institution offering associate degrees, technical certifications, high school equivalency programs, and transfer degrees with credits accepted at all Louisiana state colleges.

CONTACT

Darian Atkins

Executive Director, Community & Public Relations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Activist Marie Brown and Friends Present Juneteenth Parade and Festival, Official Monroe Celebration

Second commemoration since Juneteenth National Independence Day became a federal holiday

MONROE, La. — June 18, 2022 — Community Activist Marie Brown and friends present the 2022 "Juneteenth Parade and Festival, the Official Monroe Celebration."

This year marks the second year that the parade and festival are commemorating what is now a federal holiday. The Juneteenth National Independence Day became official on June 17, 2021, with President Joe Biden’s signature.

“Juneteenth has been dear to my heart,” says Brown. “Working with the National Juneteenth organization trying to get the holiday pushed through has been a joy.”

While Brown is pleased with this milestone, she maintains that individuals must continue to fight the good fight. “Eleven years of celebrating in Monroe and still we must keep fighting for freedom and unity. Juneteenth must become a movement for people joining together to strive for freedom. Only then are we truly free.”

The parade begins at 10 a.m. with a lineup at Wossman High School, 1600 Arizona Ave. The procession will travel in a southwesterly direction and end at the Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo.

The Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo Pavilion (1405 Bernstein Park Rd.) will be the festival site. Attendees can purchase and enjoy crafts, food, kids’ activities, pop-up shops, vendors and more. The festivities end at 5 p.m.

There is a $20 entry fee for participation in the parade (per individual, per group, or per vehicle). 

There is free entry into the festival at the zoo.

Official Juneteenth parade and festival sponsors include State Sen. Katrina R. Jackson, City Council Members Carday Marshall and Juanita Woods, Primary Health Services Center (PHSC), Burks Inks & Prints, Queen Bee Enterprises, UMOJA, and Uniti.

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ABOUT JUNETEENTH:  It is also known as Juneteenth Independence Day and Freedom Day, commemorates the date (June 19) in 1865 when Union Major General Gordon Granger and his troops arrived at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that all enslaved persons were now free.

CONTACT

Vee Wright

Vee WrightCONSULTING LLC