Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

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Downtown A&N Closed

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 4, 2006 in Business. 15 Comments

Many years ago, developer Gabe Silverman told me that he was very worried that A&N might leave downtown. I didn’t understand his concern for a big national chain, so he explained that A&N provided clothing and similar staples for low-income families downtown — there was no other place downtown since Woolworth’s had gone under. If it left, it would be yet another small blow for downtown working-class Charlottesvillians.

So today was I disappointed, but not surprised, to see that A&N’s storefront was empty, with signs up indicating that December 31 was their last day at the location, directing people to their other two locations in town. I was further surprised to visit their website and read their history. A&N was founded in 1868, immediately after the Civil War, by a Richmond couple, Mark and Lena Rose Sternheimer. Today the business is run by Mark Sternheimer and his son, Ross. They have 53 locations (well…52), all of which are in Virginia.

And now A&N is gone from downtown, in some small part because I never supported it, because I figured they were some multinational conglomerate. I suck.

Student on School Board?

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 3, 2006 in Education and Politics. 8 Comments

Today on Brian Wheeler’s blog he points to The Washington Post‘s account of Anne Arundel school board member and high school student Pallas Snider. Brian advocates the addition of a non-voting student member to the school board. I agree entirely — it seems bizarre to have a governing body with no representation of the governed — but I’d like to see the position become a voting position as soon as is practicable.

Social Services’ Clients Can’t Get There

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 2, 2006 in General News and Transportation. 6 Comments

In yesterday’s Daily Progress, Jessica Kitchin looked at a really ridiculous problem that the county has created for itself:

When Albemarle County resident Mary Steppe visits the county’s Department of Social Services, it is literally an uphill effort.

[…]

The 42-year-old mother of three estimates that she walks about a mile each time she has to visit social services at the Albemarle County Office Building on Fifth Street Extended. Currently, there is no public transportation to the building, which means many of the county’s neediest residents have to walk, bike or get a ride in order to get food stamps, housing vouchers or other social services resources.

Some will recall that this office was located on the Downtown Mall until a few years ago when, crazily, it was relocated way outside of town off the bus line. When they moved it I told anybody who would listen that it was one of the dumbest things I’d seen Albemarle do, planning-wise, in some years. It’s a big county, and no single location will easily serve a great many people. But a lot more people were served when it was downtown than when it was plopped down Fifth Street. Is there even a sidewalk going out there?

Progress on Blogging Milestone

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 29, 2005 in General News and Meta News. Closed

At the risk of the universe collapsing in on itself through recursion, I must acknowledge Liesel Nowak’s piece in today’s Daily Progress about Charlottesville blogs. The hook of the story is the recent 100-blog milestone, but Liesel talked with Rick Sincere and Jim Duncan (each of whom have already written up their reactions to the piece, naturally) about the impact and importance of Charlottesville blogs.

I can talk about blogs on cvillenews.com until I’m blue in the face, but I’m preaching to the choir here. My thanks to Liesel Nowak for spreading the word off-line.

Will The Real Geoffrey Creator Please Stand Up?

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 28, 2005 in General News. 1 Comment

I got an interesting e-mail in response to the piece about Mike Edgett, creator of Geoffrey the Giraffe. “North Lake Drive” writes:

I read the Daily Progress story noted in cvillenews about the creator of Geoffrey the Giraffe. While the man in the story no doubt created the ads for Toys R Us, there is some controversy (as always!!) about the real “creators” of the beloved character. You see, my friend, Mary Ritts, and her husband, Paul, created Sir Geoffrey the Giraffe in the 1950’s as a puppet. Sir Geoffrey and his other puppet pals (including Magnolia the Ostrich) are probably best known as the stars of several Better Business Bureau public service announcements that aired during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Toys R Us has never acknowledged the existence of the Ritts Puppets and their Geoffrey, as far as I know, so it may just be a coincidence. To be sure, Geoffrey is an easily-given name for a giraffe.

At any rate, here’s a photo of an album that the Ritts Puppets did long ago. It features Sir Geoffrey the Giraffe. I think the similarities are remarkable. Judge for yourself!

Small world.

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