Martha Jefferson Offers Free Spa Day for Expectant Moms, Other Events
Martha Jefferson Starr Hill Center will host two spa days as part of its Baby Basics Moms Club, a support group for expectant mothers. The spa days will be Tuesday, September 16, 5:30-7:00pm and Tuesday, September 23, 9:30-11:30am at the Starr Hill Center location in the Jefferson School City Center.
The spa days are for expectant moms only and participants will enjoy manicures, massages, facials and learning about stress reduction techniques they can use at home. Both sessions are free. Overall, the Moms Club has been well attended, with 14 women having participated thus far, many attending multiple sessions since the program began in January. Expectant moms are still welcome to join the group, which meets on the first and third Tuesdays each month, 5:30-7:00pm or the second and fourth Tuesdays, 9:30-11:00am. For information about free cab rides to the meetings, call 434-654-7009.
On Thursday, September 18, 6:00-8:00pm, Martha Jefferson will host a community conversation about end of life planning in the African American Heritage Center. Dr. Monica Williams-Murphy, emergency physician and nationally-known author, will speak about the importance of talking honestly about end of life issues. She’ll address subjects such as who would make decisions for you if you become unable to do so, health care decisions, and other end of life wishes.
The first 150 people will receive a free copy of Dr. Williams-Murphy’s book. Light refreshments will be provided and free blood screenings will be available from 5:30-6:00pm, before the event begins.
African American Heritage Center Hosts Lecture, Jazz Performance Sept. 19
Next Friday September 19, 6:00pm, Andrew Kahrl, Assistant Professor of History at the Carter G. Woodson Institute, will speak about his book, The Land Was Ours: African American Beaches from Jim Crow to the Sunbelt South. The talk and book-signing will take place in the JSAAHC auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.
Kahrl’s talk will explore the African American beach resorts, amusement parks, country clubs, and summer vacation communities that dotted the coasts and waterways of Virginia and Maryland in the 1950s. These segregated and African American-owned properties played an important, if overlooked, role in shaping black culture and economic life under Jim Crow. By the 1970s most of the land was lost to land speculators and real estate developers.
After the lecture, Dr. Kahrl will sign copies of his book. Cost of book is $40, members receive 10% discount.
Following the lecture at 8:00pm, veteran trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy will perform with his New York based 10³²K trio, featuring Kevin Ray on bass and Andrew Drury on percussion. Their debut recording, “That Which is Planted,” has just been released on the Passin’ Thru label.
10³²K is known as the Planck temperature–the temperature at which matter ceases to exist, conventional physics breaks down, and, according to Lacy, “strange things begin to happen to space and time.” This could also be an apt description for what happens when you mix the emotion and power of Lacy’s trombone with Andrew Drury’s propulsive percussion, and add the vibrant, driving bass of Kevin Ray.
Tickets are available in advance at Franklacy.eventbrite.com. The cost is $15 general, $12 with JSAAHC membership, and $10 for students. Presented in collaboration with the Charlottesville Jazz Society.
Literacy Volunteers Seeks New Tutors for September 20 Training
On Saturday, September 20 Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle (LVCA) will host its next tutor training at the Jefferson School City Center. The training, led by LVCA staff, takes place from 9:30am-4:00pm and prepares volunteers to work one-on-one with an adult interested in learning English as a Second Language or improving his or her basic literacy skills.
“While we do not require a background in teaching or tutoring for our volunteers, we do want them to feel prepared before they meet with a student. So we spend the day going over different tutoring techniques and bring in some veteran tutors to talk with the ones in training,” explained Executive Director Ellen Osborne. “We also supplement our trainings with videos we’ve produced in-house to help new tutors get a better sense of what a tutoring session looks like.”
Those interested in becoming a Literacy Volunteers tutor must be able to commit to working with a student two hours a week for at least a year. To register for the September training or to learn more, please call 434-977-3838.
Jefferson School City Center is a voice of the nine nonprofits located at Charlottesville’s intergenerational community center, the restored Jefferson School. We are a legacy preserved . . . a soul reborn . . . in the heart of Cville!
