Robert Henry (Chilly) Childress: 1941-2009

I can't say enough good things about my friend. Chilly was a very special person and I'm going to miss him dearly.

When we worked together at LMW, he was always willing to listen and offer advice and he told some of the funniest and most memorable stories I've ever heard. Even after I left the company and his hours got cut, he would look me up wherever I was and even had a bus driver stop a Valley Metro bus just so he could say hi to me when I was walking down the street! No one would have done that but Chilly; he was that kind of person.

Robert Henry (Chilly) Childress, of Roanoke, Va., the oldest of 12 children was born on October 10, 1941, to the late Isaac H. Childress and Julia M. Millner Childress in Roanoke, Va. After a brief illness he departed this life on Friday, March 13, 2009, at Salem VA Medical Center in Salem, Va. Robert was educated in the Roanoke School District and upon graduation from Lucy Addison High, left to serve for seven years in the United States Army. While stationed in Valley Forge, Pa., he met and married Shirley Coleman on July 31, 1965 and resided in Norristown, Pa. From this union were two children, Denise Michelle and Robert. Chilly worked for many years and was said to have been one of the best bartenders in the North. He had many skills and the last was with LMW Engineering Architecture Surveying Corporation, who stated "he was very diligent in his employment and a philosopher." Robert will be remembered by his son, Robert H. Childress Jr. (Valarie); siblings, Calvin E. Childress, Martha A. Childress, Harry T. (aka Joe) Childress, Roszella Cunningham, Lynwood Perry Childress, Wayne M. Childress (Yolanda), of Roanoke, the Reverend Helen M.C. Jones (John), Theresa L. White, of Norristown, Pa., Julia M. Childress, of Tampa, Fla., Teresa C. McClendon (Rev. Michael) and Timothy E. Childress, of Palm Beach, Fla.; three grandchildren, Troy Childress, Tyler Childress and Tamra Childress, of Norristown, Pa.; two aunts, Martha G. Williams (Bill), of Washington, D.C., and Della Millner, of Roanoke, Va.; a host of relatives, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends; and family friends, Melvin Saunders, James Bryant, Steve Stewart, Nilda Sierra, and Patricia Cooper. He was preceded in death by his parents, Isaac H. (March 1980) and Julia M. Childress (November 1997); daughter, Denise Michelle Childress (August 13, 1999); and brother, Isaac N. Childress (July 1965). Memorial services will be held 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, 2009, at Trinity Community Baptist Church, 1814 Carroll Ave., Roanoke. Arrangements by Lotz Funeral Home, Roanoke, Va.

She keeps the work on schedule

Note from Steve: This is another of my oldest and dearest friends. She was recently one of the subjects of a newspaper article on men and women who fill nontraditional roles in their places of work.

Erinn Hutkin
The Roanoke Times

ANGIE BAUGHMAN - CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGER

The atmosphere often changes when she steps onto a job site.

Suddenly, hard-hat-wearing construction workers apologize when they curse. They also don't chew. Or spit.

At 33, Angie Baughman is the only female project manager for Roanoke's Lionberger Construction. In May, she earned her master's degree in construction management from Virginia Tech after a short career as an architect.

Her job means overseeing several projects at once -- right now, it's the renovation of a Blacksburg church and building new retail space at Valley View Mall.

While an on-site supervisor runs daily operations at a job site, it's up to Baughman to handle the budget and the bills, correspond with architects, line up subcontractors and compile estimates.

Essentially, she's charged with keeping the guys working, keeping the job on schedule and making money.

"It ultimately rests on my shoulders to make sure it happens," she said.

After working in architecture for five years, Baughman decided she didn't like spending her days in front of a computer. Architects she worked for in Roanoke encouraged her to return to school for a master's in construction, leading her to attend classes while working full time.

She quit her job in December 2006, planning to focus on school. A week later, she received an e-mail about a part-time job at Lionberger from her department head at Tech. Starting work part-time, she thinks, eased her transition as a woman. And in construction, she found everything she felt her former career lacked.

"I get to go to the job. I get to talk to the guys. I get to see the project happen," she explained. "I like being able to keep busy on the job."

Even in school, Baughman knew she was outnumbered. She estimates 75 percent of students in her master's program were men. Even when there were speakers from construction companies, seeing a woman was rare.

Yet when she decided to switch careers, no one was less surprised than Baughman's mom. She knows her daughter is a self-proclaimed tomboy who hates shopping, except for a weakness for shoes. Baughman loves sports -- helping coach high school soccer and playing pick-up basketball. With her dad, she is making improvements on her Roanoke house.

On the job, Baughman tries to balance being confident with taking the guys' advice. If a man with 20 years' experience tells her a certain fastener will work, she'll likely listen.

On the other hand, she believes some guys at a site will ask her questions just to see if she knows the answer.

"You're a little bit discriminated against at first until people know you," she said.

A few weeks ago, for instance, Baughman was picking up a tape measure at Lowe's. A couple of guys saw her shopping and tried telling her, "Honey, you need this one."

Baughman just let them talk.

There's time enough for them to figure out she's the boss.

my neighborhood | Georgia Retail Memories

Were you sad when Rich's departed? Do you remember Cumberland Mall in its glory days? Did you find "everything under the sun" at Richway or buy your cereal at Big Star? Do the names Davison's, Levy's, Kirven's, Kessler's or J.B. White ring a bell?

My friend J.T. has created Georgia Retail Memories, a blog dedicated to photographing, preserving, documenting and capturing what has been lost in terms of retail in Georgia (with some content from Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina). Anything retail is fair game here including malls, discount stores, catalog retailers, small tenants, restaurants, drug stores and fast food places.

Anybody who visits J.T.'s site is free to contribute information, photographs or anything else they'd like to make this site even more interesting and informative.

He states, "I want this to be as fascinating for everybody else here as this is to me, and this will give me a chance to feature the highlights of my work in researching and photographing so many of these places I grew up with that now have either died or changed drastically."

It's a wonderful website, and I highly suggest checking it out.

my neighborhood | Some Small Sense

I love shopping and obviously I love to give and post advice about it. But my perspective as a tall man in a small town doesn't work for everything and everybody.

Enter Amy. She is a petite woman who lives in a big city. Her blog, Some Small Sense, is just starting out, but it offers perspective on being hard-to-fit from the opposite end of the spectrum than I can offer. It's insightful, sharply written and helpful, even if your're not petite.

If you get a chance, go check it out.

my neighborhood | boondoggled

This is Just D's blog, Boondoggled. She's one of those bloggers who always has interesting things to say, and she's funny as hell to boot. One of these days, I'm going to be able to do that. LOL

Check out her blog. You'll be glad you did.

my neighborhood | SUAQBALB

This is my friend Kris Litman's new blog. It's called SUAQBALB - this is pronounced "shwack-balb" - and is an acronym for Sack Up And Quit Being A Little Bitch. It's Kris's new mantra in life. As he desicribes it: "there is a lot we can complain about, but we might as well deal with it instead of bitch about it." True dat.

Kris is in his mid-twenties, single, works at a church, and is trying to figure out what he can offer life. He competes in triathlons, so besides his random thoughts, he'll also post his training workouts.

I have known Kris for a small while, and even though I don't get to talk to him as much as either of us would like, we try to keep in touch as much as we can. Maybe this will help me be able to keep up with him a little better :-)

my neighborhood | weil, sunny and more from billy

A trio of new blogs from three of my online friends:

Grocerying is the latest creation from Sunny, aka cantnot or outisthorough. It's going to be a blog about grocery stores, in a smilar vein to LiveMalls.

Sunny is a good friend, and his department store pictures helped put LiveMalls on the map, so I encourage all of you to check out his new site as well as his older site, North Carolina Malls.

Roanoke's Only Weill is a recent creation by my friend Weill Casey. He was the guy who got the Roanoke forum up and going on UrbanPlanet before circumstances forced him to leave the forum.

His blog is chock full of news and great photographs from all around the Roanoke area. For such a young man, he's an excellent photographer.

Vintage Computer City is the latest site in the Roadgeek Blogring. Created by frequent steve's blog poster and friend Billy Coore, this blog is all about outmoded but lovable electronic technology, which is very appropriate since Billy is the most "old school" teenager I've ever met.

my neighborhood | spurious george

She goes by many names, and her frequent comments stand out in their incisiveness slash weirdness. She's the voice of reason, the eye of chaos, a working class work of art (and piece of work). She’s almost my best friend, even though I’ve never seen her or heard her in person.

She’s Heather, a wonderful woman from out West that has gotten under my skin and into my heart, and her new blog Spurious George promises to be like no other.

If you’ve been here much, you know Heather and love her work, so you’ll know and love her blog. If you don’t know her, you should…when she puts some stuff on there, of course (hint, hint, ahem)

Note to H: I’m not laying it on thick, you truly are cool as shit. ;-)

my neighborhood | flashback city

I forgot to do this a whie back. My friend Billy's newest blog is Flashback City, which he describes as "The Blast from the Past on the Web."

Flashback City is a chronicle of assorted items form Billy's childhood, including old commercials and reccolections. It's a very cool site, and I think you'll like it a lot.

my neighborhood | From The Mud Puddle

This is my friend Muddy's blog, From The Mud Puddle. She's introspective, talented, and she's a woman of faith, which I think is an unbeatable combination.

Check out her blog. You won't be disappointed.

my neighborhood | diary of a fat man

It's not often that you se a person deal with issues of weight and life with as much honsety and humor as Chris. Diary of a Fat Man is an online journal documenting Chris's weight loss with some great commentary thrown in. You should check this out.

my neighborhood | 'snips, snails' & new looks from evan and juno

Just in time for Fashion Week in New York, a couple of blogs I frequent have done some renovation, and one of those bloggers has launched a new site:

As I've said before, my friend Evan Cantrell is THE authority on comics and science fiction. He's an architect by trade, but his knowledge of fantasy even trumps that.

Evan's website, Chipped Ham Productions, has a brand new look and a new co-blogger, my friend (and Evan's brother-in-law) Derek, who is also an architect and an authority on the fantasy arts. This was already a great site, and now it's getting even better.

Evan and his wife Lisa also have a new blog going that features the trials, tribulations and joys of raising their young boys.

Snips, Snails & Puppy Dogs Tails is just getting started, but it looks promising, and if that weren't enough, it features my little buddy, Evan's son Ethan, who I affectionately call "Little E."

Last but not least, I've always been captivated by the great stories Juno tells at her blog, Looking Glass Houses. I think you'll enjoy them as well. If you haven't stopped by there in a while, the site has a cool new look, but more of the thoughtful, funny and sweet stories you've learned to expect from Juno.

my neighborhood | carrie, jocelyn, and more from billy

Today, I thought I'd offer up a three pack of blogs from loyal Steve-land contributors and friends that I know you'll enjoy:

Carrie may look like the girl nerxt door, but she's so much more than just a pretty face.

On Carrie's Online Journal, she treats her readers to sharp commentary, a rapier wit, and some insightful discussions about current events, her life and what she's learned. Her stories are incredible and her intelligence and friendliness shine through in every line.

Next up is Carrie's friend Jocelyn's blog. Jocelyn never fails to have something interesting to say about life and all its ups and downs, and she worries all the time that no one reads her blog, even though a lot of people do and, personally, I think it's rather good.

Click on over and experience the funny, observant and unpredictable commentary that can only be from Jocelyn.

Last but not least is Billy's new blog, Carolina Circle City. Billy is Steve-land's resident roadgeek and in additon, no one loves this recently destroyed Greensboro mall more than than him. You can learn more about its greatness by visiting "the city."

my neighborhood | shopopolis

Shopopolis, Consuming the Future, and other post-Malling of America observations...

This is the blog of William Severini Kowinski, author of The Malling of America, one of my favorite books.

my neighborhood | road city

This is my friend Billy's new blog. He's just getting started, but it looks promising.

my neighborhood | malls of america

Malls of America is the brainchild of suburban Detroit resident Keith Milford, who has devoted his webspace to showcasing his collection of vintage shopping mall photographs and postcards. The site is an incredible find for vintage mall buffs everywhere.

Thanks to Mitch for telling about this site. :-)

my neighborhood: paradox unbound

Mitch Glaser's blog, Paradox Unbound

I had a comment tonight on the save Marshall Field's post from a friend of mine from remembering_retail, Mitch Glaser. Mitch is a zoning official and retail buff from Los Angeles, and you may remember the post I did on his project documenting all the malls of Southern California. If you haven't checked it out, you should, because it is impressive, to say the very least.

I found out tonight that Mitch also has an excellent blog called Paradox Unbound that foucses on retail and evelopment issues, along with trips and events from his personal life. It's an interseting and insightful read, and if you're digging this blog or LiveMalls, you'll love Paradox Unbound as well.

my neighborhood | Drinking Jean Nate!

Anita's new soft drink blog. Check it out.

my neighborhood | The Tube City Almanac

This is Jason Togyer's blog at Tube City Online. I wish I could write as well as he can.

my neighborhood | That Mall's Sick And That Store's Dead!

That Mall's Sick And That Store's Dead! 5/17/05

My new friend Anita is a fellow Virginian (from Wakefield) and a dead mall buff, among her other interests (soda, The Daily Show). She emailed me last night about LiveMalls (remember that one) and I decided to check out her site called That Mall's Sick And That Store's Dead!

Anita's a smart and thorough webmaster and an imaginative writer. I really enjoyed my visit to her site and I think you will, too.

That Mall's Sick And That Store's Dead! http://sickmalls.blogspot.com/