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Interviewees
Velzy, Greg
Accessibility Note
Content is digitally accessible 2024.
Interviewer
Bowden, Eric
Description
In addition to being a Board Member for the Friends of James River Park, Greg Velzy is the longest serving Board Member of the James River Outdoor Coalition, Chair of the Falls of the James Scenic River Advisory Committee, and Council Member of the James River Advisory Council. Why is he so busy? Because his 50 years in Richmond have made him fall in love with the river and our Park. Greg enjoys the Park for hiking, running, and especially paddling. Like many of us, he admires the “Grass Roots” nature of the support for the Park. He considers himself one of many who are inspired to contribute to the health of the James River Park System. He also told us that one need not found an organization or join a non-profit to make a difference. The average Park user can exact change during a simple visit by stopping for just a second and picking up a piece of trash.
In this interview, Velzy speaks about his childhood in Richmond, his favorite places for various park activities, the downsides of having more people interested in using the parks, how park users should be communicated with, the significance of exploration and discovery for parks users, balancing preservation and access to parks, how attitudes towards the park have changed since the 1970s, the relationship between JRPS, Friends of the James River Park, and the city government, his involvement with the James River Outdoor Coalition, the significance of the James River to both indigenous, colonial, and U.S. history of the region, the joys of seeing kids build confidence through parks activities, how to get a more diverse perspective in park signage, and how to work with private landowners to grow park conservation efforts.
Please note: There are high winds in this audio recording, some parts of the audio are difficult to hear and the transcription may not be entirely accurate.
Topical Subject
James River (Va.); Outdoor recreation; Outdoor recreation for children; Outdoor recreation--Environmental aspects; Trails; Environmentalism; Parks; Parks--Maintenance; Education parks; Conservation; Discrimination in municipal services; Public history--United States
City/Location
Richmond (Va.)
Genre
oral histories (literary genre)
Local Genre
oral history; sound recording; text
Type
Sound; Text
Digital Format
audio/mp3
Language
eng
Rights Statement URL
Rights
This material is protected by copyright, and copyright is held by Greg Velzy. You are permitted to use this material in any way that is permitted by copyright. In addition, this material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Acknowledgment of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is required.
Collection
James River Park System Oral History Project
Contributors
James River Park System
Source
Greg Velzy interview (2024-04-12), James River Park System Oral Histories, M 569, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University.
File Name
jrpsoh_velzygreg_interview.mp3
Disciplines
Environmental Education | Public History | Social History | United States History