It's WINDSday| April 27, 2022

Celebrating the Power of Wind, Clean Energy and a Green Environment

When ROX luxury coaches needed an emergency third vehicle on April 19, a call went out to Jimmy Hall at competitor Venture Tours. “Can you spare a bus to take 15 Chesapeake high school welding students to the Portsmouth Marine Terminal tomorrow?”

No problem. It was that kind of cooperation and mutual respect that defined WIND Energy ROX. On Tuesday, John Larson of offshore wind developer Dominion Energy and Patrick Kinsman, Vice President at the Virginia Port Authority, briefed aspiring welders in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth on the industry and the field trip ahead. The coach drivers, ROX and Venture, then collected their passengers at five different stops WINDSday morning in those three cities and delivered them to PMT for a window tour, narrated onboard by Kinsman and the Port’s Andrew Sinclair and Cathie Vick.

It was then onto the Student Center at TCC’s spacious Portsmouth campus where a Gourmet Gang box lunch, sponsored by Junior Achievement, and a commemorative t-shirt, paid for by ACCELerate Apprenticeships, awaited. So did a series of heartfelt and encouraging talks from Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover, Chesapeake Councilman Don Carey, the HR Workforce Council’s (HRWC) Shawn Avery, Dominion’s Tonya Byrd, TCC’s Michelle Woodhouse, Mike Summers and Tamara Williams, Economic Development staffers Pam Croom (Portsmouth) and Lloyd Jackson (Chesapeake), Mid Atlantic Maritime Academy’s Ray Blanchet and Centura College’s Joel English and Trent Nylander.

After the chats, the grateful kids made a beeline for a TCC augmented reality welding station, collected some swag including a voucher for free play at APEX Entertainment and then headed home, suitably alerted to a bright future for young people who like to use their hands and heads to earn and thrive.

Next fall, WINDSdays and the HRWC intend to stage a second Wind Energy ROX for CTE welders from Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News and Norfolk. Seeing the site of a future blade finishing plant on a top-of-the-line coach and hearing from experts is a regional effort worth replicating as America’s newest industry makes landfall in Hampton Roads.  

“No way.” That’s what Chris Stankus was told about 25 years ago when he proposed a kite festival on the sand. Enter Mike Hilton, now with WINDSday Partner Beach Events, who said, “I’ll take care of it.” In 2004, the Atlantic Coast Kite Festival launched and except for a missed COVID year, it’s been a staple ever since. The 2022 edition will be this Saturday and Sunday (4/30-5/1) between 16^th and 18^th Streets (www.beacheventsvb.com).

Bring your own kite, learn to make one during workshops or watch the skies for some unique designs, some the brainchild of Chris’ mother Marguerite, a former False Cape Park ranger, who has cooked up kite creations for the likes of Cirque de Soleil, Disney and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. “We provided them our signature 3D Peace Doves that beat their wings, bank on the air, and soar across the sky emulating a real bird in flight,” says Chris, who runs Jackite Inc. in Virginia Beach, which manufactures for clients nationwide. (www.jackite.com)

When you’re at the festival, say hi to the Stankus clan and to Mike and Bobby Melatti from Beach Events, vie for prizes given to the oldest and youngest kite fliers, as well as the funniest, most unusual kite, and biggest kites. And leave your wallet in the car. It’s all free. 

Volunteer Hampton Roads honored a host of community servants this past week at an event in downtown Norfolk. Among them were two of our partners, mediator and attorney Walter Camp (left) and commercial realtor Worth Remick (right). Keep up the good work guys!

Race to Rudee's

Join the WINDSdays' Crew Celebration of the catamaran racing in the Worrell 1000, sporting the official WINDSdays decal!

Mike Eason, a former resort administrator for the city and four-time Worrell 1000 sailor, and Carter Turpin, a longtime sponsor of the race and owner of Rudee’s Restaurant  look forward to this epic "comeback!" (both pictured below).

Tuesday May 4, 4pm - 7pm

Rudee's Restaurant

227 Mediterranean Avenue, Virginia Beach

Kudos to the Hampton Roads Global Commerce Council, which staged a two-day port appreciation event this past week, including a lunch at the Beach Marriott and a Spirit of Norfolk cruise of the region’s maritime terminals. Aboard were a host of fan holding individuals representing companies eager for the offshore wind turbines to arrive off the coast.