It's WINDSday | December 20, 2023

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

When a recent Friday began for me, I never would have guessed it would end helping distribute skates to kids in a local low-income apartment complex.

But I had not met Amanda Mauch. At 2pm, I arrived at Harvest Restaurant on Atlantic Avenue at 17^th Street to interview her husband Mike, the owner, for this story. Amanda was there, both to tell me how she had to talk Mike into dating her (they have now been married eight years and have two children) and then in 2019, to open a healthy fare, fast casual diner (with a rooftop bar) in an old Subway (“I had never run a restaurant, just an ice cream parlor,” says her otherwise incredibly able spouse, a Kellam High and ODU grad, who serves and/or chairs multiple business/city commissions and associations.)

They know the strip well. He had his “I Scream Ice Cream”, since closed, and a handful of doors down the street, she was, and still is, the owner of Karma, a popular skate shop. (Amanda’s run on wheels her whole life.)

As I devoured one of Harvest’s incredible chocolate chip cookies and iced coffees, Amanda told me she had to slip out to deliver a few dozen roller skates and skateboards plus basketballs, books and other early holiday gifts to children at Twin Canal Village off Lynnhaven Parkway. 

She knew about that community but had hatched this idea just two days earlier, recruiting manufacturers, Tony Chandler a professional Florida skateboarder that Karma sponsors, and the founder of VB Roller Girls, Kristey Guinto, to assist. I said, “I’m coming too.” 

So at 4:30, after the 20 or so young residents had watched a video about the origins of Christmas and devoured pizza, thanks to United in Him church, we handed out the goodies to shrieks of surprised joy. “I just love doing this,” says Amanda, clearly a woman on a mission to make a difference, whether in business, at home (in Pungo) or in the community.

Bottom line is that we now have two new WINDSday Partners between 16^th and 17^th Streets on Atlantic Avenue. Stop in at Harvest (they have a terrific roof top bar) or Karma. You never know where you’ll go next.  

Every year, well this is just our second, we find a local Santa and make him the official one of WINDSdays.

This year it’s Justin Hollingsworth, retired from Enterprise Car Rental, who was in a local tavern 30 years ago when the hired Chris Kringle didn’t show, and someone threw him the costume and asked him to suit up.

The Aragona/Pembroke native has been at it ever since, keeping the white beard cropped until April and then letting it grow to its holiday length. “I love the children especially the handicapped ones. I make people happy, that’s my motto.”

We met this Santa at a Christmas party thrown by WINDSday friends, the law firm of Gary Byler and Stephanie Iaquinto. Merry Christmas everyone!

The adjective that describes everything about offshore wind is HUGE. That includes Dominion Energy’s $650-million Charybdis, named for a Greek sea monster, that will ferry key parts out into the ocean. Now under construction in Texas, it will be Jones Act compliant, meaning it can go back and forth to a domestic port, in this case to its homeport in Portsmouth, to pick up components. 

Fast Company magazine recently updated us on its status.

“Because wind turbine parts are so big, the ship needs to be big. Charybdis will measure 472 feet long, 184 feet wide, and host a crew of more than 100. The wind turbine blades it will carry will be 354 feet long (longer than the 100 yards of a football field), and each turbine needs three of those, plus the tower sections, and has a nacelle that weighs more than 550 tons. A nearly 73-foot-wide platform at one end of Charybdis will provide a spot for a helicopter to take off and land.”

According to the article, “the Charybdis will be able to jack itself up out of the water at a rate of about two feet a minute, thanks to four long legs and a rack-and-pinion system. Those legs actually pass through the ship itself, so that when the ship is floating in the water, the four legs tower upwards.”

“Charybdis is great—it’s an amazing vessel,” says Claire Richer, the director of offshore wind for American Clean Power. “We have a huge need for more vessels. There’s a shortage of vessels to be able to build all the offshore wind that we aspire to, and so Charybdis is an important piece of that.”

The ship is now set for delivery no later than early 2025. Click here to read the Fast Company story.

The first woman president of the National (and Virginia) Association of Realtors works for Coldwell Banker in Virginia Beach.

She also chaired the Virginia and Hampton Roads Chambers of Commerce, the Virginia Community College System and even the Tidewater Boy Scout Council. No wonder WINDSdays is pleased to have Dorcas Helfant-Browning as one of our campaign allies.

“Offshore wind is such an important new industry for our region,” says Dorcas, a go-to business leader in our region for decades. “It’s critical for our environment but also for our workforce. We must attract technical jobs that prepare our citizens for the future. If you’re not on the leading edge, you’re on the bleeding edge.”

Dorcas knows local real estate like the back of her hand including the challenges around affordable housing, a critical need for teachers, police officers and others who serve us. Searching for an agent who has her eye on the market as well as the community? Email Dorcas at [email protected]. 

Today isn't just another WINDSday; it's a day that blows in a special kind of joy and celebration - it's Sara Jo Rubin’s Birthday!

Sara Jo, a.k.a Mrs. WINDSdays, YOU have shown us all how to harness the wind, constantly pushing us in the right direction. Your presence in our lives is like a gentle yet powerful breeze, guiding us with wisdom, warmth, and a sense of direction that only you can provide. On this special day, we want to acknowledge the incredible impact you've made.

So here's to you, Sara Jo - may your day be filled with the same joy and love you bring to others. May the winds of happiness, health, and prosperity always blow in your direction. Happy Birthday, and thank you for being the wonderful Mrs. WINDSdays that you are!

Always, The WINDSdays Team

Stay connected with WINDSday via Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn