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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Hello Fellow Vikings
I hope all is well. Earlier this week I ran into a TJ alum who shared with me a tragic accident that happened to another TJ alum, Denny Waldrop, whom I knew from my football coaching days at Tee Jay. Denny graduated from TJ in '68, went to college, married Dee Dee Shepperson (TJHS Class of '75). Denny became an elementary school teacher in Hanover county. During his career, Denny was promoted to principal, a position he held for several years until he retired.
One of the things that Denny did during his retirement years was delivering flowers for his daughter Kelly, who owned and operated her own flower farm in Hanover. As Denny delivered flowers for Mother's Day on Friday May 9, 2025 tragedy struck. He was struck and run over twice, then dragged by a large truck pulling a trailer with a tractor and hay. It changed his life & his family's life forever. Denny needs considerable medical care as well as specialized medical equipment as you can read about in the attachment.
I have learned that a GO FUND ME request by Denny's daughter, Kelly, has been established online to help him and his family deal with this overwhelming life change. Please share this story with others and if you are a webmaster for your class, please consider posting it there.
Thank you for helping Denny, Dee Dee, and his family,
Russell Flammia
Fundraiser by Kelly Waldrop : Denny Strong
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Hello Viking Friends and TJ Supporters,
The Vikings Fund would like to express its gratitude as the 2025-26 school year was a banner year for the Vikings Fund!
Below are some of the ways the Tee Jay Vikings Fund supported TJ during the 2025-26 school year:
· For over eight years we have awarded two scholarships to help seniors further their education – this year we awarded three! Thanks to the support of our generous donors, especially the Fan District Association and the TJ Class of 1960, we awarded $10,000 in scholarships to TJ’s Class of 2026. This year’s scholarship recipients will be attending Virginia Commonwealth University, Norfolk State University, and Reynolds Community College.
· 2025-26 marked the third year of our Vikings Meal Program (VMP) which provides students needed meals when participating in extracurricular activities. The VMP provided 1,900 meals this academic year, up from 700 meals in 2023-24 and 1,200 meals in 2024-25. It goes without saying that the VMP has been a success!
· We installed new stage curtains in the auditorium that look amazing!
· We are purchasing 125 new classroom desks that will provide teachers and students with a flexible, modern classroom conducive to 21st-century learning! A special thank you to Reveille UMC for contributing to this campaign by making the Vikings Fund the beneficiary of their Mission Benefit Concert.
· We purchased new training room weight equipment for Tee Jay Sports Medicine.
· We continued our support of the Library Reading Program by providing Amazon Gift Cards for the monthly winners for most read fiction and non-fiction books and the yearly winners as well.
· We provided teachers and staff a back-to-school lunch in August.
· In May, we celebrated our teachers and staff during Teacher Appreciation Week with box lunches and special giveaways from Bombolini and Mr. Submarine.
· We hosted Campus Clean Up Days in November and May.
We are so grateful to our loyal and new supporters. All of this and more was possible due to your generosity. THANK YOU!
We are currently raising funds to purchase the classroom desks through May 31. Thanks to you we have already raised over $14,000! We invite you all to continue supporting the Vikings Fund by sending a tax-deductible contribution to the Tee Jay Vikings Fund, PO Box 11451, Richmond, VA 23230 or donating online at TeeJayVikingsFund.org.
Russell Flammia
Your Tee Jay Vikings Fund
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Hello Fellow Vikings
As we enjoy & pause for the Memorial Day Holiday, I thought I'd share information about Medal of Honor Recipient and TJ Alum, Michael Folland. Michael was a troubled youth before and during the time he attended Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Home for Boys. Because of his troubles, he did not graduate from TJ. When he joined the Army Michael 'found himself" As was the case of thousands of young men during the 60 & 70's they were sent to Vietnam. While on patrol in July of 1969 his unit came under heavy fire. When an enemy soldier threw a grenade at Michael's unit, his commanding officer picked it up and threw it back. A second grenade was thrown by the enemy and seeing that there was no time to throw it back & it was going to explode among his fellow soldiers, Micahel covered the grenade with his body and saved the lives of several men in his unit. For his heroic action, Michael was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. To Honor his bravery Monumental Honor Monumental Honor | Richmond Medal of Honor created the Michael F. Folland Merit Award. Below is the citation that Monumental Honor awarded to a graduating TJ senior last week at the Senior Awards Assembly. The award is for $2,000 and is the second year that the award has been presented.
Please take a few minutes to remember those veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the wonderful freedoms we enjoy in the United States. Could you share this with others? and if you are a webmaster, consider posting it on the website.
'Memorial Day, because Freedom isn't Free'
Regard,
Russell Flammia
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Hello Fellow Vikings
Hi folks,
The Tee Jay baseball coaches have asked me to spread the word among the alumni about the annual Alumni Appreciation Day baseball game that will be played on TJ's home field. The Alumni Appreciation Day will be Wed. May 6. The appreciation ceremony will be held at 5:15 and the game with JM will get underway at 5:30. Come out and see the new fencing & dugouts for the softball and baseball teams which were donated by the Richmond Flying Squirrels. We greatly appreciate these badly needed improvements to our field. I realize some of you live out of town, but I just want to let you know about some of the good things that are happening at Tee Jay!
Seeing our young people grow and compete in athletic events with the guidance and supervision of the coaches is heart warming and fun. The Alumni Appreciation day is also an opportunity to reconnect with fellow alumni, and meet new acquaintances. So contact fellow alumni or friends and enjoy the game. There are plenty of seats in the bleachers but consider bringing your own folding chair.
If weather causes any doubt please call the TJ office at 804-780-6028. Please forward this message along to other alumni. Go Vikings! 4,100 Strong!
Russel Flammia
TJ Alumni 1962
TJ teacher 1966-2000
TJ Vikings Board since 2012
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Hello Fellow Vikings
We have a new Photo Gallery containing the advertisements from our 50th Reunion Program. Follow the Photo Gallery link on the left side of the page to the Advertisement album.
These companies' contributions helped make our reunion a success. Please consider supporting them in the future - and please tell you family and friends about the gererosity.
(11/7/2025)
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Hello Fellow Vikings
👻Happy Halloween☠️
We have Photo Galleries for all three of our events. Please send us your favorite pictures - we want to add them to our Galleries. Also, you are welcome to send us a favorite story or anecdote about this weekend and we'll add it to the Gallery.
Thank you, again, to to everyone who attended the reunion. Thank you, also, to all of our classmates who were unable to attend but made a generous donation to the reunion.
(10/31/2025)
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Hello Fellow Vikings
Wow - what a weekend! All three of our reunion events were awesome! It was heartwarming to see so many classmates having fun, reconnecting with old friends, reminiscing about their days at TJ, and sharing stories about their lives and families.
We have Photo Galleries for all three of our events. Please send us your favorite pictures - we want to add them to our Galleries. Also, you are welcome to send us a favorite story or anecdote about this weekend and we'll add it to the Gallery.
Thank you, again, to Sports Center of Richmond (SCOR), Lakeside Park Club, and to Julius Pittman and the Revival for being part of our reunion weekend.
(10/27/2025)
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Hello Fellow Vikings
The reunion has started! Friday Night's Meet & Greet was a huge success. Thank you SCOR for a great evening.
Saturday Night's Dinner and Dance, with Julius Pittman and the Revival, was an awesome event. Thank you Lakeside Park Club for a geat evening.
Select the Photo Gallery link in the menu on the left side of the page to see the first pics from these two events.
(10/26/2025)
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Hello Fellow Vikings
The reunion has started! Friday Night's Meet & Greet was a huge success.
Select the Photo Gallery link in the menu on the left side of the page to see the first pics.
(10/25/2025)
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Hello Fellow Vikings
We have exciting news about our upcoming 50th reunion
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TJHS Richmond VA - Class of 1975
50th Reunion Schedule
Friday, October 24th, 7-10 pm at SCOR
(Sports Center of Richmond), 1385 Overbrook Rd, Richmond, VA
Meet & Greet w/ barbecue, Brunswick stew, and sides
Saturday, October 25th, 6-11 pm at Lakeside Park Club,
1700 Lakeside Ave, Richmond, VA
Dinner Buffet, Cash Bar, and the Julius Pittman & The Revival band
Sunday, October 26th, 10 am at Lakeside Park Club
Country Breakfast Buffet
Cost $125/ per person
Please send check to: TJHS 75 Reunion, 6015 W. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23230
Registration forms for our reunion will be available soon.
For more information about the venues:
Lakeside Park Club - https://lakesideparkclub.com/
SCOR (Sports Center of Richmond) - https://scor-richmond.com/
(7/27/2025)
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Hello Fellow Vikings
We have a Photo Gallery! I've started it with two pictures - a recent one of the THJS building and a picture of our yearbook cover. I'm still learning how to upload and caption the pictures so, for the near future, please email me any pictures you'd like to include in the Gallery.
Have a good weekend.
(6/28/2025)
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