Future grads // Twins Cydney and Camryn Hamlin, 6, of Philadelphia are ready and waiting to see big sister Tyler Stafford get her degree at Virginia Union University’s commencement last Saturday at St. Paul’s Baptist Church. The duo led Ms. Stafford’s cheering section. Please see area commencement coverage and photos, B2 and B3.

Wellness center dedicated // Once a gas station, this Church Hill site is now home to the new Sarah Garland Jones Center for Health Communities. The new $1.5 million center developed by Bon Secours Virginia Health System with private donations opened Tuesday at 2600 Nine Mile Road. Bon Secours officials announced at the dedication that the building will bear the name of Dr. Jones, the pioneering African-American physician who in 1902 founded and ran the forerunner to Richmond Community Hospital, which is now part of Bon Secours. The building’s renovation and opening took longer than expected. Groundbreaking took place in April 2016, with plans to open four months later. The new center has three components, according to Bon Secours. First, the building houses a commercial kitchen for Class-A-Roll, a Bon Secours program that provides community cooking classes and food skills training to promote healthy eating. The kitchen also will be available for preparation of community dinners. The building also includes space for a coffee shop that nonprofit Church Hill Activities and Tutoring, or CHAT, plans to operate to provide jobs and entrepreneurial experiences for neighborhood teens. Finally, the building includes a separate 900-square-foot community room to be used for health and wellness programs and meeting space for neighborhood groups.

Making history // Gov. Terry McAuliffe gives Richmond Delegate Delores L. McQuinn his pen Wednesday after signing a history-making bill into law that she patroned through the General Assembly. The new law ensures that 19th-century graves, monuments and markers of African-Americans will get the same state support as the burial sites of Confederate soldiers who fought to keep them enslaved. The governor also signed a second bill Richmond Delegate Jennifer L. McClellan ushered through the legislature that clears the way for the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities to preserve and tell the story of sites in the state linked to enslaved people. Among those taking part in the signing ceremony are, from left, Richmond Delegate Betsy B. Carr; Powhatan Delegate R. Lee Ware; Delegate McQuinn; Fairfax Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn; Petersburg Delegate Lashrecse D. Aird; Delegate McClellan; Virginia Outdoor Foundation Executive Director Brett Glymph; state Secretary of Natural Resources Molly Ward, hidden; and First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe. The ceremony took place in front of the Civil Rights Monument in Capitol Square.

Strawberry Street Festival // Youngsters from Richmond’s William Fox Elementary School perform during the 38th Annual Strawberry Street Festival last Saturday. The event featured games, rides, raffles, auctions and, of course, strawberries. Proceeds from the festival benefit the school.

Tranquil scene at Pony Pasture Rapids Park

Fashion forward // Models strut the runway, showing off fashion forward designs at Runway 2017:

The show, held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, drew a crowd that was awed by the fashion segments featuring knitwear, dresses, menswear and denim, among others.

LAUNCH. The event last Wednesday showcased 125 original garments designed by juniors and seniors in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising.

The production was staged by VCU students in collaboration with faculty and sponsors.