VCC Magazine Summer 2020

V irginia C apitol C onnections , S ummer 2020 30 A ssociations AARPVirginia –804.344.3059 David DeBiasi, ddebiasi@aarp.org Alliance for Construction Excellence (ACE) J. T. Thomas, Chairman , 703.658.4383 Fraternal Order of Police, VA State Lodge John Ohrnberger, johrnb@aol.com Speech-Language-HearingAssociation ofVirginia (SHAV) Renee Garrett, President • www.shav.org Virginia Association for Career and Technical Education Dr. Brenda D. Long, Executive Director , 540.760.250 Virginia Association for Marriage and Family Therapy https://vamft.wordpress.com/ Virginia Association of Realtors Terri Suit, CEO , o) 804.249.5702 c) 804.381.1222 Martin Johnson, Senior VP of Gov. Relations , c) 804.514.9830 Anthony Reedy, VP of Political Operations , 804.249.5719 Mary Lawson, Vice-President of Legislative Affairs , 540.230.6310 Erin Barton, Deputy Legislative Counsel , 804.249.5033 Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association Ray LaMura, President , 804.780.1776 Virginia Coalition of Police and Deputy Sheriffs Chip Condon, President , 1.800.913.2727 Virginia Education Association –804.648.5801 Jim Livingston, President Kathy Burcher, Government Relations Virginia Motorcoach Association, Inc. Doug Douglas, Legislative Committee Chairman , 434.376.1150 Virginia Fire Chiefs Association David Hutcheson, President , 757.651.7641 Virginia Professional Fire Fighters Robert Bragg, President , 434.882.8238 Virginia School Counselor Association Julia Taylor, Chair ; Lauren Kershner, Assistant Chair www.vsca.org Virginia State Firefighters Association Ken Brown, President , 804.971.7983 Voter Registrars Association of Virginia Allison Robbins, President , 276.328.8331 E ateries Rueger’s Restaurant & Bar 901 Bank Street, Richmond • 804.343.7300 (Inside The Commonwealth) S ervices Gus’s Shoe Repair 528 East Main Street, Richmond • 804.782.6959 www.shoerepairrichmond.com H otels Berkeley Hotel (Per diem rates offered, restrictions apply) 804.780.1300 • 1200 East Cary Street, Richmond The Commonwealth (Per diem rates offered, restrictions apply) 804.343.7300 • 901 Bank Street, Richmond Adjacent to General Assembly  Delta Hotels by Marriott Richmond Downtown (Special Session rates available) 804.788.0900 • 555 East Canal Street, Richmond Linden Row Inn (Special Session rates available) 804.225.5841 • 100 East Franklin Street, Richmond Saxon Shoes By Ken Jessup After finishing a Session of the Virginia General Assembly, which ended in a very cold month of March, my wife, Faye, arrived to help me pack up and take me home for a much-needed break. I’m legally blind, so she does the driving. Trust me, you don’t want me steering about all those highways and byways. Faye had shown up a couple days early to visit with friends. Now, there's a fairly new and very popular upscale open-air shopping center in the far outskirts of our Capital City and friends were all buzzing about the various stores. Naturally, and I know this is a sexist comment, but the discussion between women turned to shoes and how Saxon Shoe Store was so nice and the selections were so good and the salespeople were so helpful. Saxon’s is legendary in Richmond. They started as a hole-in- the-wall in a strip mall, and now they are the department store for shoes…and bags, and hosiery, and nail polish, and hats, and greeting cards, and…. well, you get the idea. My friend Bonnie remembers taking her toddler there decades ago for baby shoes. And, of course, who can resist the 8-inch high heels that are the feminine equivalent of “hold my beer.” Oh, Faye’s friend neglected to say the prices are so high! But you get what you pay for, and that’s not the point of the story. I'm wearing a suit; the temperature is below freezing; it's 8 a.m. and the store opens… at 10. For 2 hours I froze while we walked around the mall, looking in windows at stuff beyond our means, me with no topcoat and I can only assume the credit cards in my wife’s pocketbook were keeping her warm and toasty. When 10 a.m. arrived and the store opened I was one happy man, although a scowl was frozen on my face. My fingers and toes felt like ice in a cocktail. After a few minutes wifey was ready to leave—after not even trying on a pair of shoes! As we headed to the car, my body dealing with its new frozen state, I informed Faye that she was still alive for one reason only—only because I could not drive! Ken Jessup is chairman of the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired, a member of the State Rehabilitation Council, and the Statewide Independent Living Council. …the credit cards in my wife’s pocket were keeping her warm… “ ” B ENNETT F UNERAL H OME Charles D. Morehead, Sr. Funeral Director & General Manager 3215 Cutshaw Avenue Richmond, Virginia 23221 (804) 359-4481 V