Stories from the Center of the Universe

Mark Jenkins comes on the podcast at an opportune time, but we’ll come back to that. Mark, who grew up in the Richmond area, is a pastor at Berea Baptist Church in Rockville, Va. Mark spoke to Paul about having a huge family and being in two very different school systems growing up. They talked about him switching his major while attending Chowan College, discussed his various careers and how he w...

Dr. Ed Wallace joins the podcast via a connection with Njeri Kershaw (Episode 39). Ed was born in the Bronx, NY and grew up there. He was born into a family that loved and talked sports and he told Paul that sports as well as education played a big part in who he is today. He spoke about his Dad and his influence on Ed through teaching him several life lessons. They discussed Ed’s higher education...

Nick Wisner and Paul work together and Paul opened up about how Nick had an impact on him recently. They discussed Nick being born in Chesterfield, but going to high school in Hanover and being involved with a lot of different groups. Nick went to Virginia Tech and he told Paul about his experience there, an internship that led to him taking a semester off as well as why he stayed in Blacksburg fo...

This episode sets a record for number of guests in one recording! Paul attended the inaugural Patrick Henry High School Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet. Paul spoke with each of the eight inductees … Chris Tate (there for his dad, Ray Tate), Eddie Webb, Sonja Fridy Kinney, Donnie Morris, Damien Woody, Dominic Smith, Lizzie Powell Hissey and Coach Ray Long Jr. This was an impressive first class for t...

Michael Reynolds joins the podcast via a connection with Andrew Ting (Episode 40.) Michael was born in Nebraska and grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota which he said was a great place to grow up. He got into drama and singing in high school and that led in part to him attending Northwestern for college. After trying that for a couple years, he switched to Political Science and then went to law sc...

Chris Karpes lives in New Orleans and he and Paul met about six weeks ago. Chris was born in Tacoma, Washington, but grew up in Canada and was about thirty when he moved back to the states full time. Chris told Paul about the decisions he made and then the road those decisions took him down. For Chris, that meant he has had to battle addiction with alcohol and various drugs for a lot of his life....

In the last Downtown Ashland Association Series episode of Season 3, Paul talks with Carolyn Hemphill, Betsy Hodges and Tom Wulf about the Mid-Atlantic Railroad Park. They discussed why they’re calling it a “park,” how it got started and the groups involved in backing this project. The history of railroad in Ashland as well as other general history was discussed amongst Betsy, Carolyn and Tom. The...

Paul brings back Rich Dalton for Part 2 of a three part series. They completed a quick recap of Part 1 and then discussed life after the Marine Corps. Rich talked about his interest in law enforcement, but that he decided to go back to college and wrestle. He talked about living in California, but moving back to New Jersey for a brief time and then how he changed his career path and got certified...

Paul talks to Collette and Tom Miranda for another Downtown Ashland Association episode. They are the owners of The Ashland Dance Academy and 110 Thompson. Collette has danced since she was nine and taught dance since she was fifteen. They started the business in 2020 amid the pandemic and said it was tricky, but it was the right time and right thing to do for the community. They discussed with Pa...

Tom Greco is back (episodes 4 and 215) and he's still thinking about starting his own podcast. For this second installment, he joins Stories to talk about how a Disney movie from decades ago inspired Disney to buy an NHL franchise by the same name. The underdog storyline with sub-plots of redemption really stuck with Tom. With the recent release of the documentary E:60 movie, Once Upon a Time in A...

In the latest Downtown Ashland Association episode, Paul talks to Courtney Caldwell. Courtney was involved in Round 1 of the DAA episodes because she hosted us at the Ashland Theatre. Courtney is the manager at the iconic Ashland landmark which is celebrating its 75th Anniversary this year. Courtney and Paul talked about the types of events at the theatre and one in particular that was inspired by...

Bill Gatewood joins Paul for a Downtown Ashland Association episode. Bill and Paul talked about how he got involved with the organization which led a discussion about Train Day in Ashland. They also discussed what brought Bill to Ashland originally and then how he served the town as a police officer for almost thirty-five years. Bill continues to volunteer in the Center of the Universe and told Pa...

Carlene Bass has lived in Ashland for 87 of her almost 90 years on this earth! Her Dad, a traveling salesman (and a great gardener,) moved the family from Caroline to Ashland in 1935. Paul and Carlene talked about growing up post Depression, graduating from Henry Clay High School and going to what is now Mary Washington University to become a teacher. They also discussed memories about World War 2...

Ashland Icon Barclay DuPriest joins the podcast. Barclay was born in Richmond, but grew up on a farm in Burkeville, Virginia. She told stories about the farm including the first time she ever saw Rob DuPriest. She talked about Crewe HS, attending Randolph Macon Women’s College and then marrying Rob and moving to Ashland. She told Paul about living in Ashland and included a story about a time capsu...

Jeremy Simmons comes to the podcast courtesy of Helen Emerson (Episode 205). Paul met Jeremy at Jeremy’s studio in Richmond where Jeremy plays and produces music. Growing up, Jeremy played some sports, but he was playing music at the early age of six and has been ever since. Paul and Jeremy spoke about talking with strangers and he quoted Dr. Seuss. Jeremy plays in and manages two bands while also...

Kate Chenery Tweedy, cousin of Silent Rob, joins the podcast to discuss Secretariat for Virginia and her story. Kate’s mom was Penny Chenery who was the force behind all things Secretariat who many consider the greatest race horse of all time. Kate talked about growing up in Colorado, but visiting Virginia often. She talked about going to boarding school, college and she told Paul the story of The...

Paul and Rob take a look back at a larger grouping than in the past .. Episodes 151-220.

In the third installment of the Downtown Ashland Association series, Paul welcomes Teresa Lopez De Ocanas to the podcast. Teresa, her husband, Edgar, and their family run Los Regios which is a Latino market located at 109 S. Washington Highway in town. Teresa said they started the business about a year ago and they have multiple items from several different countries. They’ve also added a food tru...

Erika Johnson lived in the east end of Henrico and then her family moved to Hanover when she was in elementary school. Erika and Paul know each other from working together a while ago at a large Richmond area employer. They discussed her career path from start to now and her love for music and how it helps put you in the moment. They are both UVA grads and they talked about Erika’s experience at U...

In the first installment of a 3 part series, Rich Dalton joins Paul to tell his story. They talked about growing up across the east coast, losing his dad at an early age and what a typical day is like for him currently. They touched on his journey from high school to the U.S. Marine Corps to law enforcement. In the second installment, we’ll dive into other topics of a man who has lived several liv...

Don Willis and Paul haven’t seen each in a while, but had a great time catching up and hearing Don’s story. They talked about serving in the National Guard, his second career in Emergency Management and Don’s youth. Don talked to Paul about losing a daughter and how he and his wife, Lisa, are raising their grandsons. Don finished by talking about Lisa (his super hero) and their grandsons.

He was born in the Kingdom of Lesotho, raised in South Africa and came to the United States to go to high school in Connecticut. Tom Guo joins the podcast to talk about his youth and then his experiences going to college on the west coast. Paul and Tom briefly discussed work and finished by talking about how Tom travels around the world to follow a passion of his … rock climbing.

Manoli Loupassi joins Paul and they talked about high school at St. Christopher’s, Manoli’s dad, college and law school and his time as a radio sports show host. They discussed his career as a prosecutor, being on the Richmond City Council as well as being a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. They finished by talking about his wife Stewart and their three kids.

Jason Wells joins the podcast to talk about Mechanics of Faith. Before that, Paul and Jason spoke about him growing up in Hanover, extreme sports and his early passion for working on cars. Nowadays, Jason works, has a great family and he runs Mechanics of Faith which helps people in the community who need repairs for their vehicles. They finished by talking about Jason’s family and how to donate (...

Tom Greco is back (episode 4) and he's thinking about starting his own podcast. For his initial episode, he joins Stories to talk about how NBA basketball captured his attention in the late 80s and early 90s. The NBA Eastern Conference playoffs really grabbed him as he watched the Pistons, Bulls, Celtics, Pacers and Knicks battle during his formative years. With the recent release of the movie, Ai...