It's WINDSday | April 3, 2024

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

Andria McClellan is calling it quits after two terms on Norfolk City Council (not running for re-election this November), and her leadership on a host of issues, not just in that city, but across the state and region, will be missed.

An alumna of Green Run High in VB (plus UVA), she brought an appreciation for all of Hampton Roads to her job as Superward 6 representative.

And it showed in the responsibilities she took on in public transit, coastal resilience, citizen engagement and internet access where she chairs the Southside Network Authority, the area’s broadband ring initiative.

Southside Network Authority Map

But WINDSdays loves Andria because of her early-stage involvement in offshore wind, pushing Governor Ralph Northam to have Virginia take a lead role.

“I saw that New Jersey was actively pursuing supply chain companies, and I said why not us?” McClellan knew, however, that the Commonwealth had to show a commitment to the industry. “So I was thrilled to lend my voice to urge the legislature to enact the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020, which required Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to produce 100% percent renewable electricity by 2045 and 2050, respectively.” With that statute in pace, Virginia was on the same plane with more aggressive northern states.

McClellan, a mother of three grown sons, whose husband shuttles back and forth to Atlanta as a Norfolk Southern executive, may be done with politics (she did try unsuccessfully to become lieutenant governor and then a State Senator) but not with civic involvement and business. She has some cred there, having attended Penn’s Wharton Management Program in 1996. So stay tuned.  

Thank goodness Coast Guardsman Robert Stanley Walker bought a couple harmonicas a few decades ago in his native Cleveland. In Hampton Roads during the final assignment of a 27- year career, he took one to an open mic night. 

“Someone liked me so much that he asked to hire my band, but I said I didn’t have one.” He does now (that includes his wife Joy and kids), along with a moniker, Bobby BlackHat, a huge following, and a recent addition to his catalogue of song titles.

“It’s called ‘Broke Knee Blues,’ and it’s about my knee replacement surgery and recovery this year.” Here are some of the lyrics.

“Knee bones grindin’ in the morning

Snap, snap, snap at noon,

Oh my knees hurt when I walk,

That’s why I wrote this tune.

Doctor Doctor, please heal my pain,

Doctor said, “Mr. BlackHat, you need a new knee, Bionic Blues Man you will be.”

Bobby, who has now had both knees replaced, is gingerly recuperating at his home in Newport News, not far from Richneck Elementary where his granddaughter was in class on January 6, 2023. “I had to go get her after that six-year-old shot his teacher.” Ironically Bobby had earlier composed “Run Baby Run”, a haunting ode to the 2018 Parkland, FL student massacre.

He’s also written about the plague of overdosing and the war in Ukraine but also fun numbers like “HRBT Blues”, which VDOT showcased and VEER honored with its 2016 Song of the Year.

Follow Bobby and his hat at www.bobbyblackhat.com, and make a date to see him back on stage. He will perform at the Smithfield Wine Festival on April 13 and during Hampton University Jazz Week on April 17. “You never know what’s gonna happen at a Bobby BlackHat show,” he says. One thing’s for certain, he’ll be walking on two healthy knees. 

It started at home in Chesapeake with his mom, Marilyn Heilig. Erick watched her whip up creative meals, first for the family and then for the rest of us at 219 on Granby Street. “My first paid job was as dishwasher and prep cook,” says Erick. “I was 14.” 

Then came a series of kitchen opportunities, which eventually led to Bodega’s on Granby Street and the Wild Monkey on Colley Avenue in Norfolk. “I was the bartender and then the chef.” His career path was set.

“I love the operational side of the business (even though vegetable oil quadrupled in price during COVID) and making customers happy.”

He has done the latter now for 18 years on Atlantic Avenue across from the Oceans in a bistro called simply “Eat.” The definition on the wall is perfunctory. Running “Eat. Tuesdays through Saturdays from 5-10pm is not. Experience helps.

Take the selection of specials, which the week we visited included Thai Red Curry Tomato soup, Braised Lamb and Short Rib Ragu, Sauteed Calamari and Lil’ Bitches, raw cocktail oysters from the Eastern Shore. “We also often feature my Paella Valenciana because it’s a favorite.”

Erick and his crew know this because they keep track of dishes and recipes (i.e., Big Eats and Little Eats) in a three-ring notebook and listen to comments wait staff brings to the kitchen, which he rarely leaves. “I’m not really an out-front person.” Which is okay because patrons prefer knowing the owner has personally sauteed their flounder or stirred their gazpacho, a summer staple. 

When he’s not cooking or kite surfing (“I enjoy that a lot”), he’s finding time to be with wife Kerry and 9-year-old daughter Adaleigh.

Whether she will be a culinary artist is to be seen, but she will know the slogan (on the blackboard) that still drives his grandmom and dad. “Eat what you like, and let the food fight it out on the inside.”  

eat, an american bistro * 4005 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach * 757.965.2472 * eatbistro.net

On May 4, 2024, from 12 pm to 3pm, our friends at Lynnhaven River Now will shuck oysters and celebrate our environment at the 22nd Annual LRNow Oyster Roast. The event will be held at 416 Southside Road, just south of the Rudee Bridge. It will feature Lynnhaven Aquaculture Oysters, Beach Bully BBQ, live music, and your favorite adult beverages. 

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets ($75 each). Interested in sponsoring or donating items for the silent auction? E-mail Brian Sagedy at [email protected]. 

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