It's WINDSday | September 11, 2024

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

WINDSdays Salutes Marjorie Mayfield Jackson

If there was a Hampton Roads Environmental Hall of Fame, Marjorie Mayfield Jackson would be the inaugural inductee.

For a dozen years, she was a writer for The Virginian-Pilot, even earning a Pulitzer Prize nomination, before leaving to start the Elizabeth River Project in 1993. “The river was dead for miles at a stretch,” she recalls before she prodded companies along the Elizabeth to invest in its clean-up. “Now look what we have done.”

Three decades later, the River and tributaries are cleaner than ever, the “Project” now has a real home, the Ryan Resilience Lab off Colley Avenue in Norfolk, and the founder has decided it’s the perfect time to retire.

Grand Opening of Ryan Resilience Lab

Paradise Creek Nature Park

In a brief video, Marjorie, who trained extensively with the US Environmental Protection Agency in environmental risk management, announced she will depart at the end of 2024 and help a national search firm identify a successor. It won’t be easy.

We certainly expect Ms. Jackson to continue attending River Star luncheons, participating in clean-ups (in her signature waders), and encouraging homeowners, schools, and businesses to help one of America's busiest industrial waterways, now at Grade C in overall Health, rise to a B or A. In fact, let's do it for Marjorie.

Taste, Under Jon Pruden, Has a 10^th Store

On the Way Plus a Museum Cafe

Growing up in Suffolk, Jon Pruden's family had been packing high-quality hams for three generations.

When his father sold that company, though, his son had already left the fold and became a downtown Norfolk attorney. "I worked at Kaufman & Canoles for nine years and made partner," but the specialty food industry had never left his heart. "When I learned in 2006 that founder Peter Coe was selling the then 33-year-old Taste Unlimited, I gathered a group of friends and family and bought it." The fast-casual food purveyor, which started in 1973, had 45 employees and four stores when Jon's team took over. "Today, we have 650 staff and nine locations (including one in Richmond) and will add a tenth near Pungo next year."

Peter Coe remained with the company, rebranded under the Prudens as just "Taste," for five years before passing away from cancer in 2011. "We have stayed true to his gourmet brand," says Jon, "while adding more healthy salads and smoothies to our menu of sandwiches, our main calling card." And, of course, there are soups, bowls, chips, "shakers," and other specialty items. The product line is so popular (and consistent), that ordering ahead is a necessity many days. And if you think you're seeing more familiar faces, it's because Jon (still ably assisted by his 79-year-old dad, also named Peter) has created more community gathering spots to enhance the guest experience.

One thing that will never change is Taste’s signature yellow and white bags. “I have always loved seeing people carrying them to the beach, and back to their office or homes.”

Besides retail, under Jon, Taste has expanded its catering, thanks to its 2019 acquisition of Cuisine and Company and its existing contract at Chrysler Museum. "We now run the café there, called Zinnia, and it’s our only full-service restaurant. It’s doing well.” So is Rowena’s, the signature local pound cake maker, which became part of the Taste family in 2021.

Go to tasteunlimited.com to secure your Lynnhaven, Boardwalk, Freemason (all signature sandwiches), or Giant Cookie. (P.S. we're told the Snickerdoodle is as "tasty" as the Lemon Cooler.)

Did You Know?

Here are some facts about offshore wind development from Energy.Gov.

Offshore Wind Resources are Near Most Americans: Nearly 80% of the nation’s electricity demand occurs in the coastal and Great Lakes states—where most Americans live. Offshore wind resources are conveniently located near these populations, particularly in the northeast. Wind turbines off coastlines use shorter transmission lines to connect to the power grid than many common sources of electricity.

Offshore Wind is Right on Time: In many areas where offshore wind projects are planned, wind speeds are highest during the afternoon and evening, when consumer demand is at its peak. Most land-based wind resources are stronger at night when electricity demands are lower.

Wind Songs: Hasten Down the Wind

By Hunter Hughes

Linda Ronstadt

“Hasten Down the Wind” was written and recorded by the late Warren Zevon and covered by Linda Ronstadt in 1976. Ronstadt liked it so much that she made it the title track to her seventh album.

According to Wikipedia, "the lyrics describe the latter days of a relationship between a man and a woman, with the woman accepting that 'nothing's working out the way they planned' before the man accepts that 'she needs to be free.'"

Here's a verse:

She's so many women

He can't find the one who was his friend

So he's hanging on to half her heart

He can't have the restless part

So he tells her to hasten down the wind

Listen to Linda Ronstadt performing Hasten Down the Wind.