Lindsey Hull
Sheriff Antonio Hash with community volunteers .
Over 100 community members made improvements to the Strauss Park neighborhood in Northwest Roanoke during National Roanoke Community Beautification Day on Saturday, July 28. The annual event is a joint initiative by VASH Developers LLC and the Virginia Diverse Chamber of Commerce. This year, the event also featured a dance competition, community awards ceremony, vendor and corporate sponsor fair and several food trucks.
In partnership with numerous corporate sponsors, members of the community worked together to update landscaping at five Roanoke City homes. Later in the day, community members gathered to celebrate the city’s youth and other outstanding individuals.
The event was spearheaded by Roanoke business leader Aldrica Lattimore, VASH founder and president of the Virginia Diverse Chamber of Commerce. In 2020, Lattimore decided to pay tribute to her father, Roanoke-native Albert Edwards, by organizing a community event centered around togetherness and beautification. The result is a celebration of what the community can do when it works together to better a neighborhood and celebrate the strength of its members.
On Saturday, National Roanoke Community Beautification Day was recognized by proclamations from Roanoke City and the Commonwealth of Virginia. These were delivered by Roanoke City Mayor Sherman Lea, Sr. and Virginia State Senator David Suetterlein.
“Today, Southwest Virginia residents, families and visitors come together to combat blight in communities by helping to revitalize neighborhoods and beautify homes, parks and communities for a better, more beautiful Roanoke,” Suetterlein said as he read Governor Youngkin’s official proclamation.
A different Roanoke City neighborhood is chosen each year, according to Virginia Diverse Chamber of Commerce vice president and event organizer Eric Sparrow. Planning starts during the winter, when a committee identifies houses that would benefit from additional landscaping. This year, the houses all bordered Roanoke City’s Strauss Park.
Previous neighborhoods have included those surrounding Staunton Park, Eureka Park and Kennedy Park. The event began in 2020.
Lindsey Hull
(L-R): Virginia Diverse Chamber of Commerce Members Khalefia Dungee, Aldrica Lattimore, Decca Knight and Eric Sparrow
“We look at areas that may need a bit of tender loving care, they may need some attention to their homes,” Sparrow said. Once a neighborhood and houses are chosen, the committee works with each homeowner to identify the property’s needs.
As the event nears, the committee coordinates with community sponsors such Lowes, which donates all the landscaping materials for the event. “Lowe’s believes in building strong communities. We love participating in projects like this because it gives us an opportunity to give back,” Salem store manager James Williams said.
Homeowner Glenford Peters watched as Lowe’s employees planted shrubbery in front of his modest split-level home on Saturday. The updated landscaping was something he had wanted to do for some time, he said. Peters moved to Roanoke from New York City twenty years ago. He’s been in the Strauss Park area ever since. “The people here are polite,” he said.
Neighbors, friends and community leaders volunteered in full force on Saturday. They had a common cause and they worked towards it efficiently.
“It’s an opportunity to bring citizens together as a unified city. No matter what your background, your walk of life, whatever you stand for– this was an opportunity to bring the community together,” said Roanoke City Sheriff Antonio Hash, who rallied volunteers for the event and also served as part of the landscaping crew.
“We’ve been out here since [Friday] doing prep work,” Hash said. He referenced Saturday’s predicted high temperatures, adding, “For the safety of the [volunteers], we wanted to try to get it done sooner rather than later.”
Lindsey Hull
Onlookers watch as Virginia Legacy Cheer performs.
It took a lot of effort to make sure all the tasks would be completed before temperatures rose. According to Sparrow, volunteers were divided into teams according to type of task. Some volunteers picked up litter while others focused on mulching or planting.
Many of the volunteers had been hard at work since sunrise. By the time the event officially kicked off mid-morning, community members had planted flowers around the park sign, dug holes for trees and bushes and prepared garden beds for planting.
Captain Gayle Combs of the Roanoke City Sheriff’s department volunteered alongside his nine year old grandson, Taj. Taj said he was eager to get started that morning. “I woke [Combs] up at 5:10 in the morning,” he said. He and Combs had been volunteering since 6 a.m.
“We put down landscaping cloth and planted flowers and spread mulch,” Taj said.
Vice Mayor Joe Cobb was the event host and emcee. He also led the initiative to pick up trash in and around Strauss Park. As event host, Cobb was quick to recognize the hard work and talent of all of the volunteers who had made the day possible. He’s participated in the event since its 2020 inception.
“It’s a special way for people to come out and add beauty to an already beautiful part of our city,” Cobb said. He wasn’t finding much litter, he admitted, pointing out that the park was remarkably clean when he had arrived that morning.
Roanoke City Parks and Recreation was on hand at the beginning of the event, setting up shade canopies for use by vendors and sponsors alike. The department has recently replaced the park’s playground equipment, according to Cobb. The basketball court also appears to have been newly refinished. Roanoke City Parks and Recreation is also in the process of replacing the park’s broken sign, Cobb wrote in a follow-up email.
“Strauss Park is kind of a hidden gem,” Cobb said, referencing the green spaces and adjacent stream.
By noon, much of the landscaping work had been completed. Attendees gathered under a large white tent, taking refuge from the heat of the day.
Dancers and cheerleaders performed routines on the adjacent basketball court, while parents looked on with pride. Community leaders received awards and praise. And the volunteers joined together to celebrate the strength in their community.
“This day symbolizes what we can do when we come together… There’s not a thing that we can’t do in our community, in our society, to make it better than it was the day before. And that is true success,” Sparrow said to the crowd.