5 things

Although every day should really be Earth Day, today and the rest of the weekend are especially so! Get to it, Earthlings!

April 22, 2010; 6:00 AM • by Susan Howson

Editor’s note: Things have been pretty crazy over at the RVANews office this week, so the lovely Susan Howson has stepped in the bestow you with this week’s 5 things. Isn’t she a peach?

Although every day should really be Earth Day, today and the rest of the weekend are especially so! Get to it, Earthlings!

1. Bike to the Future (sponsored by Sticky Rice and Ellwood Thompson’s)

What if you love the Earth AND you love exercising? What if you don’t work on Thursdays?? Get on that bike and head over to Sticky Rice for a leisurely and meandering ride to Ellwood Thompson’s! Take the scenic route, enjoy your city in the spring, party afterwards with ET-provided refreshments, and use zero fossil fuels while you do it! You might even bike away with one of several free giveaways. The goal is to encourage more folks to embrace the sweet bicycle life and heighten awareness that Richmond is a killer town for riding bikes!

• Thursday, April 22, 2pm
• Sticky Rice (2232 W. Main Street)
• Free!

2. Crossing the Line: Fashion Show Benefit for VCU Massey Cancer Center

It’s Friday again! What to do, what to do? You could go to happy hour with your colleagues and eat some overpriced hors d’oeuvres somewhere that you hate just so that you can complain about your office manager….OR you could spend that money drinking wine and taking in the local fashion (from local boutiques as well as original designs from VCU students) at Crittendon Studios. What’s that you say? If only this experience could also benefit those in need? Show organizer Brittany Burke, inspired by her brother’s fight against bone cancer, donates the proceeds to Massey Cancer Center. Wine, food, fashion, a Greek Influence theme, and an excellent cause. Stay tuned for more coverage of this event today on RVANews!

• Friday, April 23, 7:30pm
• Crittendon Studios (201 W. 7th Street)
• $45 per person, $80 for two (purchase tickets online here)

3. The Great Richmond Region Adventure

If you’d like to turn your weekend up to 11, embrace a full-on adventure that promises to me some sort of combination of The Amazing Race and The DaVinci Code. Unlike the former, you won’t get to be on TV, but unlike the latter, you probably won’t end up infuriating the Catholic Church! You’ll decipher codes, gather clues…you know, adventurous stuff. And if you do it better than anyone else, you could win $1700 for your team AND a matching donation to the museum or attraction of your choice! It’s National Tourism Week, so let’s show off Richmond as much as we can!

• Saturday, April 24, 10am
• Secret starting location (no really), but it’s rumored to be in the Museum or Fan District.
• $35 per person (sign up here)

4. Elvis Costello

It’s…Elvis Costello, and he’s going to be in our frigging town. It’s sold out, but I bet you can get tickets if you tryyyyy.

Need to get pumped up about it? Take a trip down memory lane:

• Saturday, April 24, 8pm
• The National (708 E. Broad Street)
• $38.50 (like we said, it’s sold out, but there’s always chance to snag someone’s extra ticket)

5. Earth Day Festival

Let’s get back to the business at hand — Earth Day. Richmond likes to be outdoors, and it sure as heck likes to party. There are so many things going on at this festival that I don’t even know where to start. Bands! (Gills and Wings, Hot Lava, David Schulz and the Skyline, and Photosynthesizers). Fish! (Tanks, fly-casting workshops, songs, dances, and a family fish release). Art! (Submissions of the recycled variety). Food! (Alamo BBQ, Nate’s Taco Truck, The Nile, Crossroads, Croaker’s Spot, and more, including an outdoor market by Ellwood Thompson’s!) There’s a lot more to do, too: yoga, sustainability showcases, and other attractions and learning opportunities. At this family friendly event, you can teach your kids what Earth Day is all about, or you can just remind yourself in between tacos. Proceeds benefit Enrichmond Foundation.

• Sunday, April 25, 12pm to 5pm
• Just south of the 14th Street Bridge, where Hull Street begins
• Free admission, food and what not cost extra

If none of these look particularly compelling (although I can’t imagine why), perhaps I can interest you in our Events Calendar for more ideas?

And as usual, if you’d like to give special shout-outs to happenings this weekend, leave them in the comments!

(Don’t forget: If you’ve got an event in the works that you’d like to see featured, send it our way.)

April 22, 2010 6:00 AM 3