Best Local TV Commercials
R.J. Tilley Plumbing & Heating Inc.
Company president Judy Tilley explains that R.J. Tilley started advertising on television in the ’90s, in conjunction with an expansion into the kitchen-and-bath remodeling business. A few years back, it was decided that they’d use the same actors, Gordon Bass and Dawn Westbrook, in all of the ads, playing a couple in need of R.J. Tilley’s help. The ads are put together by Claire Shaffner Marketing, with freelancer John Hartmann (an on-camera fixture for the, ahem, winner of our next category) working up the ad as a radio spot — that’s how his mind operates. Shaffner works on converting it to a TV commercial and getting it produced.
2. Chesterfield Auto Parts
3. The Auto Connection

Worst Local TV Commercials
Haynes
Yes, they’re annoying, and yes, you could be forgiven for thinking that Haynes has been holding a perpetual sale for the entirety of the company’s existence, but who’s really to blame for these ads? If, after all these years, Haynes is still touting the biggest sale in its history, no payments for a year or whatever its latest inducement for furniture shoppers might be, there must be a reason. Could it be that the ads work?
2. Auto Connection
3. The Joel Bieber Firm

Best Local Sports-Radio Personality
ESPN Radio 950’s Big Al Coleman
A former stockbroker, Al Coleman’s on-air career began after he heard a locally produced sports-radio show one night and was less than impressed. Certain he could do better, Coleman called up the station and asked for a slot. The next month, he had a one-hour show, SportsPhone, on Tuesday nights at WRNL. A year later, he was full time, and now, 16 years into his radio career, Coleman still gets a kick out of mixing it up with his listeners. “The callers make the show,” he says. “I love it when they disagree with me.”
2. ESPN Radio 950’s Greg Burton
3. Sports Radio 910’s Wes McElroy

Best Local TV Anchor
(Tie) WWBT 12’s Gene Cox/Aaron Gilchrist
Despite our best efforts to uncover some All About Eve-style tension between Richmond’s evening-news institution and its a.m. up-and-comer, the two anchors in our top spot had nothing but praise for one another. “Aaron knows what the job is, and he knows how to do it well,” says Cox, who’s been at WWBT for three decades. “I’m just very high on him.” Gilchrist, who started anchoring the morning news for NBC 12 in 2004, calls Cox “a consummate professional who’s also a regular guy,” later adding, “To have our viewers place me in the company of Gene in this way is absolutely a highlight of my career.”
2. WWBT 12’s Sabrina Squire
3. WRIC TV8’s Lisa Schaffner

Hottest Richmonder
Elliott Yamin
Go figure. Last year, readers, you voted Richmond’s crooning American Idol finalist as the “Worst Homegrown Celebrity.” But apparently his “hottie” transformation, which began more than two years ago when he was competing on American Idol, has made some of you reconsider. So much for love being blind, huh? We already knew the guy had a heart of gold with his aw-shucks humility and shameless adoration of his late mother, Claudette. Well, he must’ve known you’d come around and maybe even hinted at it when he recorded one of his hottest songs to date, “Wait for You.”
2. NBC 12 Anchor Aaron Gilchrist
3. Gov. Tim Kaine

Radio Station with the Worst Music Selection
Q94
We’re guessing that a lot of you aren’t very in touch with your inner 13-year-old girls. Either that or many of you have 13-year-old daughters in your house playing Q94 at full blast while you’re trying to relax. Whatever the case, it’s not like we’re going to replace our WRIR presets anytime soon, but it seems to us that the station delivers what pop-music fans are looking for, even if they do play more than a few songs into the ground.
2. Lite 98
3. Mix 103.7

Radio Station with the Best Music Selection
98.9 Liberty
The tagline for 98.9 Liberty — “We play anything” — sure does cover it. Don’t like Phil Collins-era Genesis? Don’t worry, the station will be taking a 180-degree turn into the Black Eyed Peas’ “Let’s Get It Started” before you know it. Operations manager Mike Murphy explains that the station works from a pool of 3,000 to 5,000 songs selected with our market in mind, but after that, it’s all up to chance. “It’s totally random,” he says. Listeners can influence things by calling in or visiting the station’s Web site to request songs, though.
2. Lite 98
3. WCVE 88.9 FM

Person Who Could Really, Truly Run Richmond
Gov. Tim Kaine
Could it be the governor’s background as Richmond’s mayor that gives readers such confidence in his ability to run our city? Possibly. But Kaine, who will leave office in 2010, has said he’s not interested in a repeat performance, although he does plan to move back to his North Side home. Sigh.
2. VCU President Eugene Trani
3. (Tie) Del. Manoli Loupassi; Mayor L. Douglas Wilder; First Market Bank Chairman Jim Ukrop

Biggest Waste of Taxpayer Money in the City
Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, in general
Wow — seems our readers really don’t like paying for the mayor’s police bodyguards and chauffeurs. A Times-Dispatch story from April notes that the city has paid out more than $13.4 million for costs related to the switch to an at-large mayor in 2005. That number includes about $1 million for lawyers in various legal disputes with City Council and the School Board, $700,000 for the aborted School Board move, plus $1.3 million for the entourage (a number you often hear cited by candidates vying to replace Wilder next year). Never mind the enormous raises for Wilder’s inner circle of employees. Perhaps we should be outraged. 
2. Moving the Richmond School Board
3. Richmond Public Schools

Best Philanthropist in the Region
The Ukrop Family
Trust us, it’s not a put-on when Bobby Ukrop, CEO of Ukrop’s Super Markets, humbly tries to compliment other philanthropists while downplaying the charitable deeds of the family grocery business begun by his parents in 1937. In concert with his brother, Jim Ukrop, chairman of First Market Bank, the Ukrops have thrown millions into community-building functions, economic development, sports, education and a lot more.
2. William H. Goodwin Jr.
3. The Weinstein Family

Biggest Waste of Taxpayer Money in Counties
Henrico Address Change
They said, “Henrico.” Our readers said, “Fiasco.” Yes, we’re talking about Henrico County residents’ decision in late May to change their postal designation from the regional “Richmond, VA” to a more local “Henrico, VA.” County officials say the move will allow the locality to recoup $5 million yearly in businesses taxes that, before, were inadvertently going to the city. Of course, we at the magazine are still left wondering whether our readers are pointing the blame finger at Richmond or Henrico. Well, here we go again …
2. Lack of Regional Cooperation
3. Henrico County’s Oversized Windshield Sticker

Best Local Blogger
John Sarvay
floricane.typepad.com
John Sarvay said he’d take a break when he and his wife had a baby this year, but it didn’t take long for him to return to blogging. At Buttermilk and Molasses (one of four blogs he maintains regularly, including North Richmond News, his personal blog Garden of Words and an internal blog for Luck Stone), Sarvay offers up a mix of political musings, pop-cultural observations and a much-needed focus on our community, all of which compelled us to name him one of the editors’ media pleasures in last year’s Best & Worst issue. This time out, the magazine’s readers have wisely followed suit.
2. Brandon Fox, brandoneats.com

Best TV Reporter
WTVR 6’s Jon Burkett
A Chesterfield native, WTVR’s Jon Burkett got his big break while covering the Washington-area sniper in 2002. Burkett explains that he was the first TV reporter on the scene after Jeff Hopper was shot outside a Ponderosa restaurant in Ashland. At the time, Burkett was reporting only two days a week, but after keeping on that story for another few weeks, he was promoted to five days a week. “I show that I’m not afraid to step up to any challenge,” Burkett says. “I think that’s one reason people watch. I do all the crazy things — I’ve been tasered; I’ve been pepper-sprayed.”
2. WWBT 12’s Ashley Swann
3. WTVR 6’s Mark Holmberg

Best Local Radio Interviewer
WRVA’s Jimmy Barrett
The morning host (and program director) for WRVA, Jimmy Barrett has a few keys to interviewing success, but one of the most important? Stay away from prepared questions. “You end up asking the questions you prepared instead of listening to the answers you’re getting,” Barrett explains. “I’d rather listen to the answer to the first question and see where it takes me for the second one.” One of his favorite interview subjects over the years — Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder — only reinforces this point. “He’s going to have a tendency to want to take you in whatever direction he wants to go anyway,” Barrett says. “So preparing things for Doug Wilder wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
2. Lite 98’s Bill Bevins
3. Q94’s Melissa Chase

Radio Station with the Most Annoying In-House Ads
Q94
It’s the Summer of the Stars at Q94, and apparently you’re sick and tired of hearing about seeing the stars, being the stars, star status, star style, winning star treatment and star departures. That said, we’re pretty sure that if you won it, none of you would turn down the free trip to see New Kids on the Block in Las Vegas. No, they’re not especially new anymore, and they stopped being kids around the same time that Donnie Wahlberg made his big-screen debut in the 1996 film Bullet playing a character named Big Balls, but it’s Vegas, baby.
2. 98.9 Liberty
3. Lite 98

Best New Thing in the Region
The National
708 E. Broad St., 612-1900
It’s all about the graduated floor. That’s the little secret in this renovated theater-turned-music venue at East Broad and Seventh streets. Which means you can get a good view of your guitar hero from any spot on the floor. If you don’t like to stand, head to the balcony for a seat. Oh, and they also claim to have the best sound on the East Coast. That can’t hurt either. And they can also boast a little booking muscle because The National is linked with Norfolk’s similar NorVa venue. Bands (and groupies) will tell you they like it because of the backstage hot tub.
2. (Tie) Toad’s Place, 140 Virginia St., 648-8623; Whole Foods store coming soon in Short Pump, wholefoodsmarket.com; Richmond Folk Festival, richmondfolkfestival.org; Infuzion Lounge, 1401 Roseneath Road, 249-COOL

Best Corporate Citizen
Ukrop’s Super Markets
In April, Ukrop’s CEO Bobby Ukrop told this magazine that his company’s business philosophy is predicated on the Golden Rule, but with a twist: Treat people the way that you would like to be treated. By now, it should be evident to most Richmonders (even those who complain the chain’s values are too “churchy” for their tastes) that the company puts its money where its mouth is, whether it’s the chain’s increased focus on “green” business policies or its support of local events and causes.
2. Philip Morris USA
3. Capital One

Local Celebrity Who Does the Most for Charity
Elliott Yamin
Last August, Elliott Yamin took on the role of International Co-Chair for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Promise to Remember Me Campaign. Yamin, who has type 1 diabetes, has been volunteering his time and services to JDRF since he appeared on American Idol. Whether appearing locally or traveling abroad, Yamin has taken on the cause of his late mother, Claudette, in his advocacy for diabetes research. Of course, he’s got a heart for other causes, too. Earlier this year, he traveled to Africa to distribute mosquito nets on behalf of Idol Gives Back, the TV talent contest’s charity drive.
2. Bill Bevins
3. Lisa Schaffner

Best Local Event
National Folk Festival
Richmondfolkfestival.org
Last October, 175,000 people flocked downtown to the riverfront for Richmond’s third and final year of hosting the National Folk Festival. During its run, performers such as Mike Seeger, Cephas and Wiggins, and Grupo Fantasma graced the stages at this free event. Though the national festival relocated to Butte, Mont., this summer, Venture Richmond will continue the established tradition with the Richmond Folk Festival, scheduled to take place Oct. 10-12. The best news? The admission remains free.
2. Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K, sportsbackers.org
3. Easter on Parade, venturerichmond.com

Best Moment in Richmond
Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K Race
The 10K, which will celebrate its 10th year in 2009, is one of the 25 largest running races in the world, which makes it hard to miss. Aside from sheer numbers (24,000 people finished in April 2008), the race has gained notoriety for runners wearing crazy costumes, including superhero garb, Will Ferrell-style Afros and Richard Simmons’ flamboyant aerobics gear. Scott Schricker, marketing director for Richmond Sports Backers, says the race will be bigger than ever next year, with 35,000 participants being “the number we’re kicking around right now.” In 2008, the race hosted the national men’s 10K championship, an event that local organizers hope will return to town in subsequent years.
2. (Tie) New Year’s Eve in Carytown/HBO John Adams premiere
3. Losing the Braves

Worst Moment in Richmond
The Richmond Braves Announce Their Departure
If this were a baseball movie, the R-Braves’ February shocker that the team was leaving town would have followed the opening credits (Ray Liotta as “Harry Black”) after 10 minutes. The conflict looming, Act II would have shown Richmonders young and old mounting a last-minute appeal to keep the Braves. (Cue teary child with mitt.) In a triumph of popular will over headstrong politics, the climax would build as fans scraped together the money for a new stadium by breaking their piggy banks and pawning off their Chipper Jones cards. And then, heroically, they would have even done the impossible — they would have attended a Braves game. This outpouring of money and love, too long withheld, would have miraculously swayed the R-Braves’ owners, in Act III, to keep the team here, despite the quarrelsome actions of a combative mayor and his sidekick. Alas, it’s no movie, but we’re still stuck in a field of dreams.
2. Mayor L. Douglas Wilder Attempts to Evict the Richmond Public Schools from City Hall

Best Publicity Hound
Mayor L. Douglas Wilder
You’ll notice there are no second- or third-place candidates in this category — which speaks volumes about our readers’ view of Richmond’s “governayor.” Is it the “Mayor’s Visions” newsletter (a compelling read, if only to see what he has to say about City Council or the School Board), the larger-than-life portrait in a South Side grocery store he claimed credit for opening, or his new Web site, richmondsmayor.com? Or perhaps it’s the constant stream of attention-grabbing, inflammatory quotes? Maybe it’s all of the above. But you know life’s just not going to be as interesting after he leaves office in January.

BEST & WORST 2008
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