VocalPoint

So, What’s YOUR Story?

As we get older, we are all guilty of talking about the numerous changes, both in the landscape around us and in society, that we’ve seen since childhood.  In fact, sometimes our children think we’re incredibly boring about it!  Mine are mostly too polite to say so, if you ignore the eye rolls.

Now that I have several decades behind me, I’ve often wanted to compare notes with others of my generation, as well as those that preceded me, to see how the various decades affected them – Depression, war, the McCarthy era, Civil Rights movement, and, sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll of the 1960’s.  Probably that last bit will have to wait until my generation is too old to care what our  children think.

I wanted to write about my favorite “Story.”  But I can’t choose one.  Volunteer Don Dale’s “What’s your Story?” series of interviews has surpassed 20.  He may have missed the butcher, baker and candlestick maker, but he’s doing his best to talk to everyone else. How about this sampling:   museum curator, veterinarian, first black woman TV anchor in Richmond, barber, actor, small business owner, writer, collector, first black woman Richmond police officer, locomotive engineer, Virginia Voice listener, body builder.

Browse through their stories and you’ll find echoes of your memories and your family’s life in the Great Depression, several wars, and decades of activity and change.

I’m the richer for having heard their stories.

I hope you’ll listen to some of them and leave us a note in the “comments” section.  Then call, 804-266-2477  and make an appointment to tell us your story! (And if you want to talk about the ‘60’s, we’ll put it in a time capsule and bring it out in about 20 years.)

Rebecca Emmett, Program Director, Virginia Voice

 

A good friend: Brick Rider

We are deeply sorry to report that Brick Rider, an integral part of Virginia Voice since 1998, passed away Saturday, November 12, 2011.

A twice-a-week reader for the Voice during most of those years, Brick helped us in so many other ways. With his stellar background in radio, television and public relations, he was a constant source of encouragement and advice.  He was an invaluable resource for the Voice.

He conducted a workshop for volunteer readers. He delivered radios.  He introduced his daughter Nanette to us and she is now well-known to our listeners as the voice of “What’s Cooking?”. He was a primary interviewer for our series of programs that connected our listeners to agencies that offered relevant services. The name of the series changed throughout the years, from Community Conversations in 1990 to today’s Face-to-Face. Brick’s ability to bring out the best in both the experienced and the nervous interviewee was a constant.

Brick read anything we gave him, from Soap Opera Digest to National Geographic. During his years of reading twice-a-week, one of those days include the Sundays Ads, for an overwhelming number of weeks—approximately three years.  His ability to connect with our listeners is best summed up by this comment from a listener: “I love the way Brick Rider reads the Sunday Ads. He puts a lot of feeling into it and makes it very enjoyable to listen to. He reads as though he’s very interested, no matter what it is he’s reading.”

I can’t begin to say how much we’ll miss him.