The Twelve Days of Christmas … Day 1: Olde Richmond’s Christmas of yesteryear … Miller & Rhoads holiday windows and Legendary Santa

By Lynn R. Mitchell

How I do miss the department stores of downtown Richmond from years past. The Nordstrom and Macy’s of the day were Miller & Rhoads and Thalhimer’s, multi-story buildings that faced Broad and Grace Streets and sold clothing, toys, household items, and more.

Every year at Christmas, those stores became magical as they transformed into winter wonderlands, destinations for thousands of Virginia residents who traveled to Richmond to look in awe at animated displays inside the huge plate-glass windows, and visited inside for shopping, dining, or to visit Santa.

Youthful memories of my best friend’s dad, Millard Godfrey

By Lynn R. Mitchell

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Mr. Godfrey, the father of Karen Godfrey (now Monger) — my best friend from 5th grade into high school.

My family moved to Bon Air when I was eleven, a stranger in a new area of Chesterfield County. Even though we had only moved from one area of the county about 20 miles to Bon Air, we may as well have moved 500 miles away because I couldn’t see my old friends anymore. As the horribly shy introvert that I was, it was very difficult to walk into a classroom at Bon Air Elementary School filled with new faces staring at me, the new girl, moving mid-year to the Richmond suburb of Bon Air.