Coffee With Strangers

Kelli talks with Kimberly Carter of the James Center. Kimberly has been with the James Center for 19 years, more than half of the 31 years the Grand Illumination has been taking place. She enlightens Kelli on event history, 2015 details, parking, how many bulbs it takes to outline the building, reindeer and what she does to get in the Christmas spirit.

Kelli kicks off the Christmas episodes by talking with Katherine Wintsch, the 2015 Richmond Christmas Mother. The Richmond Christmas Mother is among the oldest Christmas traditions in Richmond, dating back to 1935. For over 80 years the Richmond Christmas Mother has raised funds from Richmond families to support Richmond families in need. Katherine is the founder and chief executive of the Mom Complex, a research and consulting firm that drives innovation for some of the world's biggest companies.

Kelli's wrapping up season 2 in Carytown with DJ Lonnie B at Mott Gallery. Lonnie's no stranger to Kelli, he's been spinning records in Richmond for 25 years but his thoughts on the RVA music scene and beating cancer is what Kelli's excited to hear Lonnie share.

Kelli's downtown to grab coffee with Vernon Gordon at Greenleaf's Pool Room. Kelli's known Vernon since their respective "VCU days". Vernon was introduced to Richmond though his stay at VCU while undergoing cancer treatments and after VCU, stayed to start his family and begin his ministry.

Kelli's downtown to grab coffee with Greg Burton of ESPN950 at Greenleaf's Pool Room. Kelli's known Greg for a while but never had the chance to put him on the spot about how many football games he actually watches, what he thinks about the stadium controversy and hear how he felt about Richmond 2015. In this episode of Coffee With Strangers she also talks to this Delaware boy about how he came to Richmond, where he likes to eat and whether VCU should have a football team.

Kelli goes to Carytown to meet wedding planner and bridal shop owner Christine Greenberg at Mott Gallery. Christine's a military brat who spent most of her life moving every two years until she came to school at VCU. She says Richmond and Church Hill feel like great hometowns and that accessibility and comfort make RVA feel like a good pair of shoes.

Kelli’s headed back downtown to grab coffee with Andrew Cothern at Greenleaf’s Pool Room. Andrew is known among the Richmond music scene for his five-year-old Richmond music blog, RVA Playlist. Andrew drops the knowledge on all aspects of the RVA music scene, including dope small venues, where to find good music during the UCI Road World Championships, and up-and-coming musicians.

Kelli heads over to Garnett's Cafe in the fan to grab with Mavis Wynn, Event & Operations Manager for Venture Richmond. In her role with Venture Richmond, Mavis has a hand in some of the signature events that make Richmond Richmond.

Twitter Links

Kelli - http://twitter.com/LikeTheFruit

Mavis - http://twitter.com/MavisWynn

Venture Richmond - http://twitter.com/VentureRVA

Coffee W. Strangers - http://twitter.com/RVAStranger

Kelli heads downtown to grab coffee with Jim Gottier of Greenleaf's Pool Room. Jim and his wife have been in California and New York but came to Richmond to open Greenleaf's, an old-school pool room at in the John Marshall building at the corners of 6th and Franklins Streets in downtown Richmond.

Kelli grabs coffee with NBC12Anchor/Reporter Karla Redditte to learn how this southern belle from Memphis has been living Richmond since 2012. Kelli learns from Karla about being single in RVA, her tastes in music and traveling...and, yes, you can say hello to her in public.