Above, Spirited volunteers make repairs to a home on Ruffin Road during Rebuilding Together Richmond, the local volunteer effort during National Rebuilding Day. Nearly 1,000 people turned out last Saturday to help low-income senior homeowners along the South Side corridor of Jefferson Davis Highway.

Volunteers also revitalized the garden at T.B. Smith Recreation Center at 2015 Ruffin Road and the parking lot at Mount Olive Baptist Church at 2611 Bells Road. This was the 24th year for the event in Richmond, which was met with success. Volunteers helped spruce up about 39 homes.

Astronomical Role model // Engineer Leland Melvin, a retired NASA astronaut from Lynchburg, signs autographs for Franklin Military Academy students during a program April 22 at the East End school marking the 100th anniversary of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. During an assembly, Mr. Melvin talked about his role during two missions on the Space Shuttle Atlantis and his experiences as a football player and chemistry major at the University of Richmond. He also earned a master’s degree in materials science engineering from the University of Virginia. The JROTC celebration also featured robotics demonstrations, drone flying and military drills.

Single rose in Church Hil

Remembering Richmond’s first black police officers // Lillian Randolph, center, accepts a bouquet of roses Saturday during a dinner commemorating the 70th anniversary of the hiring of the first African-American police officers in Richmond. Mrs. Randolph’s late husband, Frank S. Randolph, was among the four first officers hired by the city and remembered at the event at a Downtown hotel attended by 150 people. The other trailblazing officers honored were John W. Vann, Doctor P. Day and Howard T. Braxton. They were hired May 1, 1946. Richmond Police ChiefAlfred Durham gave the keynote address, while Mayor Dwight C. Jones offered remarks. With Mrs. Randolph are her daughters, Patricia Randolph Myers, left, and Renda Randolph, right. The event was organized by Richmond Police Sgt. Carol D. Adams, second from left, and sponsored by the Richmond Black Police Officers Association and Engine Company #9.