Chapter History for 2008-2009

This was the year of Karen Noel's Presidency, with Mike Cline as VP, Past President Glenn Custis taking on a new role as Secretary, and Tom Wood coming on board as Treasurer. Other new faces on the Board were Kevin McGregor, who took on Membership; Greg Nemchick, Programs; Mark Friedrich, Sponsorships; and Jeff Bradley, Golf Tournament. While Ranny Robertson continued to handle Communications, Bud Vye Public Relations, and Kittygayle McMoon Hospitality.

Our July meeting took us out to the VCU Student Commons, where we held a panel on Emergency Power in a classroom setting with 49 in attendance, with Jeanne Ashman, Brooke Saunders, Phil Stitt, Pam Cline, and Richard Lum as panelists. Following that, we walked a couple of blocks down the street to tour the new Engineering and Business buildings, with Brian Ohlinger, Caren Girard, and Sandy Bricker as guides. A much larger turnout in August, as 89 made it out to Goochland to the Luck Stone Corporate HQ, where we turned things around by first walking down the hill to visit the Charles Luck Stone Center, with all of its samples of architectural stone usage, then back up the hill to tour the HQ, with Luck's Mike White and Jim Garza, and Chris Fultz of SMBW as our guides, and then, lastly, had our Social Hour. A beautiful evening in a very pretty setting made the experience memorable. Back to town for September, where an even bigger turnout of 93 showed up at the new Brown Distributing facility in Villa Park for the Chapter's Annual Membership Drive meeting, which was our first visit to a Beer Distributor. After amply sampling the Anheuser-Busch line which they distribute, in their hospitality room, Bill Barnes personally took several groups on tours of the new facility, after which those on the tour could depart or return to the hospitality room until the final tour group returned, marking the second meeting in a row where we socialized at the end, as well as at the beginning. A few days later saw beautiful weather for the Chapter's 15th Annual Golf Tournament, this year out at Hermitage CC, with a record 140 golfers and 30 sponsor companies participating, raising more than $8,000 for our designated charities.

Yet another new facility to visit in October, as 73 went out to Innsbrook to tour the colorful Mondial Assistance building, being guided by our hostess, Crystal Ozmar and Randy Blankenship of Evolve Architects. It was interesting to all to witness Call Center staff conversing with insurance customers in different languages on other continents. Then it was back to VCU in November where 53 met in the historic former stables for the Jefferson Hotel, now reincarnated as the VCU BrandCenter. After Mimi Sadler gave us a presentation on the use of Historic Tax Credits, Project Manager (and Chapter Past President) Sam Jennings reported on how the project had taken shape, following which Sam and Architect Spencer Grice of Baskervill took groups on tours through the colorfully decorated lower level while a number of students were working on projects. Then it was upstairs, to see the beautifully restored woodwork in the offices and large overhead pulleys once used to lift the carriages, to conclude another very interesting tour. Another big turnout (88) for our Holiday Party, as we met at the Branch House on Monument Ave., which is now the home of the Virginia Center for Architecture. Guitarist Joe Scott again provided the background music, while attendees marveled at the beautiful wood and stone work in the World War I era building and inspected displays of furniture from famous designers. Due to the success of our Golf Tournament back in September, we were able to continue our tradition of presenting checks (this time in the amounts of $4300 each) to our designated charities, Rebuilding Together, and Hanover Habitat for Humanity.

We started 2009 with a visit to the new Reynolds Crossing building, where 73 turned out to hear Herman Miller's Tracy Brower on the topic of “Attraction and Retention of Staff”, following which we had a brief tour of a portion of the building. Two weeks later, IFMA Board member Chris Hodges came down from the DC area to conduct an orientation on what is involved in attaining the FMP and CFM designations, which was held at the Dominion Innsbrook facility and was well received by a turnout of 22. February saw us meeting at the Faison School for Autism, where we heard how the former Robertshaw Controls facility was converted to a school, and then were briefed on Autism, and how it is treated, followed by a tour of the unique facility. March took us up to the north, where we had our social at Creative's Offices, following which the 67 attendees drove over to the nearby Bass Pro Shops store for a tour of the facility.

The April meeting attracted one of the Chapter's all time record turnouts of 119, as we joined with the IIDA Chapter to meet at and tour the Moseley Architects building in the historic Scott's Addition section of town. Milliken's Bill Gregory came up from Georgia to make his presentation on LEED for Existing Buildings, following which we had a tour of the building formerly used for the upfitting of trucks. Later in the month, Chapter Administrator Barbe Shaffer coordinated a team of 32 volunteers who worked on the Rebuilding Together project house in the Highland View neighborhood that was funded by the Chapter's earlier contribution. As usual, prior planning and purchasing, coupled with a long day's work by a large group of volunteers, resulted in an amazing transformation to the house being accomplished in one day.

Early in May, as a result of the enthusiasm created by the FMP/CFM credentials orientation conducted by Chris Hodges back in January, he was brought back to conduct a two day, CFM Exam Review course, again hosted by Dominion, but this time at their Charles City Road facility down by the airport. Members of the Hampton Roads Chapter were also invited to attend, and several did. Not long after, Michelle Gold of that Chapter, and Jim Mallon from ours, passed their CFM exams after completing this review, while Jane Waring received her FMP designation. Our regular May meeting found us back downtown, meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn & Condos, where 68 of us heard Chapter Past President Bob Mills and other members of the project team describe how the former Miller & Rhoads department store (again with the use of historic tax credits) was restored into a hotel and condos, followed by a tour. Our program year wrapped up with LlamaRama XIX where the thunderstorms around the area stayed away from Railside Farm until just after we finished, so that the 67 in attendance all kept dry until it was time to drive through the deluge on their way home. Once again, the Hickory Notch Grill provided the barbecue; while a new group (the God Fearin' Snake Handlers) handled the music; the outgoing President presented appreciation gifts to her officers and chairs, surprising them with gift cards to the new Bow Tie Cinema inside of Pop Corn boxes, and in-coming President Mike Cline and his cabinet were duly sworn in.