Richmond magazine - April 2024

APRIL

70 CRUISIN’

Richmond’s car culture welcomes everyone to the parking lot — and the driver’s seat By Paula Peters Chambers

78 TOP DOCS 2024

Finding new uses for technology, understanding hospice care, and the region’s 440 top medical pros, as chosen by their peers

RICHMONDMAG.COM 19

MICHAEL LEE

FOUNDATION TO FINISH

Learn the basics from these woodworking hubs By

D. Hunter

Reardon

Richmond native Dalton Rudd picked up his passion for woodworking from a class he took in middle school. He spent the following years in his garage, working with hand-me-down saws, until he landed his ﬁrst job as a cabinet maker in 2017. His interest expanded on the job; he’d go in early and o en found himself alone in a maze of saws and planers.

“I’d think to myself, all this machinery is si ing here, waiting to be used,” Rudd says. “Why can’t somebody else use it, too?”

at’s when Rudd ﬁrst thought to start a public woodworking class, but the liability risk was too great for the company’s management. Rudd was undeterred. In November 2021, he opened Workbench RVA, a community studio and educational center for learning the practical skills of wood construction.

A er a short pause in operations, the shop reopened in January at 3310 Rosedale Ave., its new location near the Diamond.

ere, Rudd o ers a courses on the basics of woodworking and project-speciﬁc classes. Classes start at $30, while monthly memberships start at $139 and include full shop access and discounts on lumber.

“We can make picture frames, planter boxes, rolling pins. Somebody’s coming in next week to do wooden wedding rings,” Rudd says. “Members have 24-7 access to the facility . . . with loads of machinery, all accurate, all clean, all sharpened.”

Another place to become projectoriented is at the Sco ’s Addition studio of Harrison Higgins, a professional furniture maker. Since 2010, Higgins has o ered a membership for weekly classes at a rate of $210 per month.

Due to size constraints and popular-

ity, new customers must join a waitlist. Once approved, members keep their spot indeﬁnitely — Higgins says one or two spots open each year.

“If you’re a beginner, we’re not going to let you tackle something that’s way beyond what you can handle,” Higgins says. “But as people learn, we’ve had students working on all kinds of things.”

Examples include a wooden wheel for a British sportscar, repairs to a shu er from a historic home and a sailboat that two woodworkers who met in class spent 10 years together building.

At Workbench RVA, Rudd o en sees a itudes shi over the course of the date night cu ing board classes. Couples experience the process from start to ﬁnish, from gluing wood strips

together to sanding and staining the ﬁnished project, with an hour break for dinner while the wood sets.

“Speaking truthfully, a lot of people come in saying to their spouse, ‘Why did you bring me here?’” Rudd says. “By the end of the night, the skeptical one is always saying, ‘ is is absolutely awesome.’”

Just like Rudd, woodworking classes planted the seed that became the business Higgins runs today. “ is all started because my grandfather took a woodworking class at Binford Middle School,” he says. “He was newly married and taking his wife to an interior design class nearby. ey had one car, and he was like, ‘What can I learn how to do on a Wednesday night?’” R

APRIL / 2024 6060

JUSTIN CHESNEY

LIVING

Workbench RVA offers short-term classes, membership options, custom jobs and more TRY THIS

RICHMOND’S THRIVING CAR CULTURE WELCOMES ALL TO THE PARKING LOT — AND THE DRIVER’S SEAT

CRUISIN’

1973 Ford Custom 500 belonging to Bud and Jennifer Allen

By PAULA PETERS

CRUISIN’

CHAMBERS Photos by MICHAEL LEE

BE SURPRISED

engineer, Holder owns a 2009 Nissan GT-R, a 2012 Maserati GranTurismo and a 2014 Dodge Viper — the same type of car his uncle owned.

C&C Richmond has met at several locations around the region since its founding in 2011. e group currently gathers at Stony Point Fashion Park from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. every other Saturday, weather permi ing. Participants pay a $5 fee to help cover the cost of insurance and security; for onlookers it’s free.

C&C Richmond attracts American muscle cars, top-of-the-line sports

“ANYBODY IS WELCOME TO COME AND LOOK. YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE A SHOWSTOPPER TO SHOW UP. ”

—Al Bryan, Ferdinand & Friends

cars, tricked-out every-day “drivers” and antiques that are either lovingly restored or works in progress.

“You never know what’s going to be here,” says Todd Jenkins, standing among a cluster of Porsches. “You could have a $20,000 [Mazda] Miata next to a million-dollar Ferrari. is is a very democratic form of car event. Car culture is hidden in Richmond. You never know what’s in [somebody’s] garage.”

Jenkins occasionally brings his 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, which he inherited from his father in 1995. At the time, the car had only 39,000 miles

RICHMONDMAG.COM 73

TOP DOCS 2024 WINNERS (cont’d)

HOSPITALIST— ADULT

Aimee Collins

VCU Health, VCU Medical Center

North Hospital, 1300 E. Marshall St.; VCU Medical Center Main Hospital, 1250 E. Marshall St., 804-828-2161

Margaret Guy

VCU Health, VCU Medical Center North Hospital, 1300 E. Marshall St., 804-828-2161

Leo F. Kenzakowski TeamHealth, HCA

Henrico Doctors’ Hospital, 1602 Skipwith Road, 804-289-4500

Muktak Mathur

Vituity Hospital Medicine, Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital, 5801 Bremo Road, 804-285-2011

Bogdan Paraschiv TeamHealth, HCA Johnston-Willis

Hospital, 1401 Johnston Willis Drive, 804-483-6493

Philip Rizk

HCA Henrico

Doctors’ Hospital, 1602 Skipwith Road, 804-289-4500

HYPERBARIC MEDICINE

Joseph V. Boykin Jr. Richmond VA Medical Center, 1201 Broad Rock Blvd., 804-675-5000

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Gonzalo Bearman

VCU Health, VCU Medical Center West Hospital, 1200 E Broad St., 804-828-2161

Julie E. Reznicek

VCU Health, Ambulatory Care Center, 417 N. 11th St., 804-828-2161

David M. Rowles

Infectious Diseases

Specialists P.C., 7605 Forest Ave., 804-285-1833

Diane S. Sinnatamby Bon Secours

Laburnum Medical Center, 8220 Meadowbridge Road, Suite 203, Mechanicsville, 804-764-2200

Sarika Tripathi

Commonwealth

Infectious Diseases, 1405 Johnston Willis Drive, North Chesterﬁeld, 804-833-5765

INTENSIVIST

Lisa Brath

VCU Health, Stony Point 9000, 9000 Stony Point Parkway; Adult Outpatient Pavilion, 1001 E. Leigh St.; Mayland Medical Center, 3470 Mayland Court, 804-828-2161

Timothy Darnauer

Chippenham Hospital, 7101 Jahnke Road, 804-483-0000