From staff reports
The 2024 Richmond Christmas Mother program has reached a total of $140,471.25. The Christmas Mother this year is Dr. Lydia Jones Johnson.
The Times-Dispatch follows its tradition of publishing the names of donors to the Richmond Christmas Mother Fund throughout the holiday season. Your generosity helps the fund support initiatives across the region to brighten the holiday season for thousands of your neighbors.
In 2023, the program raised more than $358,000.
Richmond Christmas Mother Lydia Johnson and Richmond Times-Dispatch President and Publisher Kelly Till present a check to President and CEO of Feed More Doug Pick at Feed More on Monday.
The Times-Dispatch has sponsored the Richmond Christmas Mother program, a yearly holiday fund drive, since 1935, some of those years in partnership with the former afternoon newspaper, The Richmond News Leader.
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Donations to the Richmond Christmas Mother Fund are fully tax deductible. The program is a qualified 501©(3) organization. All operational costs are borne by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Visit go.richmond.com/christmasmother to give online or send contributions by mail to Richmond Christmas Mother Fund, P.O. Box 25864, Richmond, VA 23260. Checks should be made payable to Richmond Christmas Mother Fund.
Donations are published in the Sunday and Wednesday editions of The Times-Dispatch and on Richmond.com. The Wednesday list contains donations received through noon on Tuesday; the Sunday list contains donations received through noon on Friday, except for those that included a request for publication on a future date.
Previously reported — $114,051.25Today’s gifts — $26,420Grand total — $140,471.25
Lydia Johnson talks about her role as the Richmond Christmas Mother
Doris and William Ross, in memory of Dorothy and Edgar Duncan, and Pearl and Norman Ross — $100
David and Sass Ellett, in memory of our parents, Thomas and Della Ellett, Walter and Helen Rice; brothers, Dan and Jerry Ellett; and in honor of our awesome grandkids, Emilee, Addison, Ben, Avery, and Luna — $300
Tim and Renee Sheehy, in memory of our dads, Tommy Sheehy and Tommy Quate — $250
Tammy and Mike Jones, in memory of William M. Bird, Jr. — $100
Laurie and Gray Stettinius — $100
Scott and Jacquelin Aronson, in loving memory of our infant son, Robert Scott, and in honor of our daughter, Jayne, and our sons, Jack, Joseph and Howe — $500
Robert M Farley, in memory of Lucille and Ernst Farley — $200
In honor of our nephew, Haskell Brown III — $100
Mom/Grammy, with much thankfulness for Don, Matthew, Kathleen, Anne Wesley, Justin, T, Wright, Evans, Emma, Max and Caroline — $100
Celie, in loving memory of my parents and sister, Vaughan, John, Walkie and Walter Scott, Caroline Wofford, Nan LaGow, Forrest Jessee lll, Jay Dew and John Christian — $100
Mo and Susan, in memory of our good friend, Tim Hunter — $250
Cassandra L. Edwards, in memory of my mother, Jean T. Williams — $100
Edmond Worthington, in loving memory of Carolyn, Charles K., and Charles K. Jr. Worthington — $750
Madelaine and Parker Slaybaugh — $100
Bill Sandy Carli, in memory of Kevin Beale — $100
Bill and Sandy Carli, in memory of Levi — $100
Scott, Jacquelin, Jack, Jayne, Joseph, and Howe Aronson, In loving memory of “NA”, our beloved aunt and great aunt, Nancy Brown, who faithfully supported the Richmond Christmas Mother Fund from the time she was a teenage student editor of the News Leader and Times-Dispatch through Christmas 2023 — $500
Carter and Davis Angel, in loving memory of Granddaddy and Miss Kate — $100
Liz and Bob Blue — $1,000
Anonymous — $100
Caroline Y. Brandt — $100
Anonymous — $4,500
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas T. Rankin, in loving memory of John Beverley Rankin, Edwin Lawrence Kendig Jr., Emily Parker Kendig and Mary McGuire Yates Kendig — $150
Jean W. Pugh, in loving memory of my husband, John O. Pugh Jr., and of my parents, Frances and James Woody — $100
In loving memory of our mother, Kathryn Holden Slater, from Tom, Tacy and Andrew — $300
Scottie and Tom Slater, in loving memory of Dr. Samuel Newell and Martha Newell — $200
In loving memory of Michael Rigsby Sr., from Linda, Elisabeth and Michael Jr. — $200
Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey G. Moore — $5,000
Dawn and Stuart Siegel — $500
Anonymous — $1,000
Wallace L. Garland, in memory of Hazel and Linwood Garland, George and Josephine Fitz, and “Debbie” Garland — $100
Remembering, with love, Jack Miller, our “Big Daddy,” from Nancy, Steve, Becca and the grands, Anna, Walton, Jack, Sutton and Carrington — $500
Lloyd A. Richardson, in memory of my father and sister — $200
Toots and WeeWee, in memory of family and friends who have moved on, and in honor of our children and grandchildren — $250
Yvonne and Charles Gold, in loving memory of our brothers, Bill and John — $250
Suzanne C. Pollard, in memory of Billy Preston and Fred Pollard — $300
Mr. and Mrs. C. Eugene Moss, in honor of Richmond’s great moms — $250
Woman’s Club of Bon Air — $300
Anonymous — $25
Mary and Don Hoffman, new Richmond residents from New York — $200
George Davis, in honor of Bob and Diane Shoemake — $200
Snead Family Foundation — $500
Virginia H. Spratley — $500
Johnnie Lou Terry, in memory of Charles M. Terry Jr. — $100
Mr. and Mrs. Chip Smith, in memory of friends recently lost — $100
In honor of Kamala Harris — $70
The Havens Foundation, in memory of Dorothy Havens Tillery. Mrs. Tillery, who died in 2008, established the Havens Foundation to promote the advancement and further the aims and purposes of public and private charities and education and charitable organizations for the benefit of residents in the Richmond area. Mrs. Tillery believed that the foundation would serve as a fitting memorial to both the genius and good works of her father, Wilbur Westmoreland Havens, inventor and founder of WTVR-TV. — $2,000
The Robert Leroy Atwell and Lucy Williams Atwell Foundation, in memory of Robert L. Atwell Jr. Mr. Atwell, who died in 2013, established this foundation in memory of his father and mother to support charitable and educational endeavors for the benefit of residents of Virginia. He loved celebrating Christmas and would want to assist other Richmonders in also doing so — $2,000
Elizabeth Burke Daley, in loving memory of Mary Hutcheson Burke and Thomas Dunning Daley — $300
In memory of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Winborne Jr., Nancy Leary, Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. Schaaf Jr., Leanne Leary, Elizabeth W. Kapraun, Lucille O’Neil, Courtney Lee Chase, Buck Paul, Mr. and Mrs. L. Ray Ashworth, Joanie Robins and Hugh K. Leary — $150
Mildred A. Andrews, in memory of my mother, Agnes Andrews, whose birthday is on Christmas Day — $25
Mr. and Mrs. Allen Goolsby, in memory of Adelaide Rawles Goolsby Flippen, a past Christmas Mother — $300
In memory of Barbara Lyn Belcher and in honor of the RCH Class of 1981, from Buddy — $100
In loving memory of George and Carolyn — $100
Anonymous — $500
Alicia Yancey — $100
29 photos from The Times-Dispatch archives
In February 1956, “Teen Age Party,” a televised music and dancing show for the younger crowd, was broadcast on Saturdays from the WRVA Theatre in downtown Richmond.
In 1963, Virginia Polytechnic Institute Associate Entomologist J.M. Amos demonstrated a mole trap. Though he said moles weren’t a gardener’s top enemy, their runways were used by other rodents that eat plant roots or bulbs.
This November 1971 image shows a monument in eastern Henrico County that commemorated the “calamitous year 1771” flood in Richmond. On another side, the monument included an inscription from Ryland Randolph citing 1772 and memorializing his parents.
In August 1953, members of the Monacan Junior Woman’s Club sought volunteers for the upcoming blood drive at Tuckahoe Elementary School in Henrico County. While Mrs. Allan J. Carter called prospects, Mrs. William F. Thornton worked at the typewriter.
In May 1963, Florence H. Rose outlined registration procedures to students Joan Voss and Harold Costley at the Richmond Youth Employment Center on Ninth Street downtown. By July that year, the center, operated by the Virginia Employment Commission and the Richmond Federation of Parent-Teacher Associations, had helped employ about 9 percent of Richmond’s youth.
In August 1968, trash was strewn along a street in downtown Richmond. In late June and early July, the eight-day “Fight Litter ’68” campaign gathered a cleanup force of 150 city workers and made progress in seven areas. But the Advertising Club of Richmond planned a follow-up appeal to city residents to join the local fight against litter.
In July 1959, a Tredegar Co. worker collected parts at the company’s new plant on Courthouse Road in Chesterfield County. One of company’s jobs at the time was doing machine work on missile stabilizers.
In February 1961, Adrienne Price, a senior at Westhampton College in Richmond, got ready for geography class. She recently had been voted “best dressed” at the school, which is affiliated with the University of Richmond.
In November 1944, Mrs. Alfred Adkins of Gordo, Ala., and her two young daughters visited the Travelers Aid Society in Richmond en route to Williamsburg, where her military husband was stationed. The society was a charter member of the Richmond War and Community Fund and offered travel assistance to servicemen and civilians.
In March 1990, a young bagpiper was part of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade procession on West Broad Street in Richmond.
In March 1954, Perry Sinnickson, 8, eagerly mounted a horse with little assistance from instructor Stewart Felvey. They were at the Deep Run Pony Club in Goochland County, a new equestrian program for juniors and the first club of its kind in Virginia.
In November 1964, St. Catherine’s School students Cindy McDonough (left) and Rozzie Kemper (right) accompanied teacher Lucile Tang Liu to class. Liu, the new Upper School librarian and a French and Chinese history teacher, was from China and moved to Richmond from Montreal as one of several international teachers added to the school faculty.
In June 1966, 8-year-old summer day camper Larry Harris surveyed the water facilities at Camp Thunderbird, which the YMCA opened that year in Chesterfield County. For more than 50 years before, the Boy Scouts had operated Camp Shawondasee there.
In December 1947, T.E. Burton Jr. diagnosed a patient at his doll hospital on Forest Hill Avenue in Richmond. Burton, a state Highway Department employee, was part-time chief surgeon at the doll hospital he ran out of his home. He got into the repair business when his two young daughters received as gifts antique china dolls that were badly in need of work. Burton averaged about 10 patients a week, with a busy season around the holidays.
In October 1982, Tim Smith checked the progress of a bunch of bananas in Highland Springs. His father, George, began cultivating the banana grove 10 years earlier after a friend gave him a plant as a gift. The plant grew and multiplied into 89 banana trees, ranging from 6-inch shoots to 18-foot trees. (George Smith said he didn’t eat the fruit — he grew them because he said they were beautiful plants.)
In June 1973, the pews were full at Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond for a service marking the 50th anniversary of the ordination of the Most Rev. John J. Russell, retired bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.
In April 1985, Blanche Whitaker operated the elevator one last time at Central Fidelity Bank in downtown Richmond. Whitaker was retiring after more than three decades and was believed to be the last manual elevator operator in the city. With her departure, the bank planned to convert the elevator to automatic control.
In December 1991, the Westover Hills Neighborhood Association held a dedication ceremony for the recently erected bronze markers in the median on Westover Hills Boulevard in South Richmond.
In August 1989, Coppola’s Deli owner Joe Coppola (right) and manager Bill Gerloff carefully assembled a 40-foot Italian hero in the Carytown eatery. The giant sub required three cases of tomatoes, 50 pounds of cold cuts and 15 pounds of provolone cheese. The sandwich was made for the Carytown Watermelon Festival, where patrons could buy 5 inches for $5.
In November 1965, Richmond Mayor Morrill M. Crowe cut a ceremonial ribbon to mark the inauguration of the Eastern Airlines passenger service from Byrd Field to New York. The pilot for the flight, Capt. R.D. Tyler, and stewardess Margaret McLaughlin held the ribbon.
In November 1961, state Sen. John J. Wicker dressed as a colonist and, having flown to Boston, presented the governor of Massachusetts with documents — and live turkeys — to make the case that Virginia held the first Thanksgiving in 1619, two years before the Pilgrims held a celebration at Plymouth.
In January 1972, the Rev. Constantine N. Dombalis, leader of Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Richmond, sprinkled holy water on the foreheads of two parishioners at the beginning of his tour to perform blessings of the homes for his 300 parishioners.
In July 1954, Mrs. Arthur Franklin worked on a display at Jeter’s, her harness shop at 221 E. Main St. in Richmond. The shop was founded in 1888 and had been a supplier of saddles and bridles for Abercrombie & Fitch, the New York sporting goods house. By the 1950s, a key customer was Colonial Williamsburg: It equipped its horses with harnesses and other accessories made by Jeter’s in strict accordance with 18th-century design.
In September 1975, handler Bobby Barlow showed off his basset hound, Champion Slippery Hill Hudson, who was named best in show at the Virginia Kennel Club dog show at the Arena in Richmond. At left is judge George C. Ehmig, and at right is show executive Lawrence W. Bracken Jr.
In October 1959, the rain-swollen Rivanna River flooded the Albemarle County Fairgrounds, postponing the opening of a carnival. A pelican that was part of a wildlife exhibit for the event stayed dry while tents and vehicles were under several feet of water.
In the 1960s, the Artmobile for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was essentially a rolling exhibit. The updated version, a museum and classroom on wheels, is expected to stop at schools, retirement facilities and community centers.
