On August 1, 2009, a small group of local parents came together to officially form the company that would soon after be known as Richmond Family Magazine. The team was dedicated to entertaining and informing families with relevant and timely articles, recipes, book recommendations, and a craft for the kids, all from talented local writers and area experts, nonprofit organizations, and museums. We filled the back section of the magazine with area events – as many free ones as possible! – to encourage families to flip through RFM again and again and hang onto a copy in the car, on the coffee table, and in their tote bag for easy reference to what’s going on around Richmond. We knew we had to make it easy to find a copy of the magazine around town, so we rounded up a few dedicated folks who were willing to deliver it to lots and lots of places where we knew families frequented. We attended community events to introduce the magazine to area families and get to know them. We encouraged folks to sign up for our emails and follow us on social media – there was only Facebook and Twitter back then. And we repeated these steps month after month for years and years to come.
And here we are at our fourteenth anniversary – happy birthday to RFM!
As I read through this issue, I feel proud that all these years later, we are still true to our original mission to entertain and inform. And while the content is fresher than ever, our format remains the same, a tried-and-true proven winner that families have told us again and again has helped them navigate the area and their parenting journey. RFM has evolved into more of a family lifestyle magazine than a traditional parenting magazine, as our readers have aged gracefully right along with us and enjoy reading about interesting Richmonders, travel ideas, and nonprofit initiatives in our area, alongside timely parenting information. We always welcome your feedback and ideas, so feel free to reach out to me at margaret@rfmonline.com anytime. Our team couldn’t be more grateful to you for coming along on this ride with us for all these years – let’s keep on truckin’!
In this issue, you’ll love reading all about the new Children’s Tower – that beautiful, gleaming building downtown that has been years in the making and is finally open for business (page 38). The Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU truly thought of everything when they designed our new children’s hospital, and families from the Richmond area and beyond, as well as hospital staff, are already experiencing the difference it makes to have a facility that is built just for kids.
I really enjoyed learning more about the history of the James River (page 22), and now I know why my family never spent time on the river when I was a kid – it was pretty gross! It’s so cool be able to see the impact that real change and effort have made and continue to make – you’re going to put a visit to the James River on your summer bucket list after reading this article!
As always, there’s much more in this issue and even more on our newly redesigned website, including every article we’ve ever published – and there are a lot of them! Enjoy!
