Peter Adler, a.k.a. “Pete the Ramp Guy,” led a team that built a 43-foot ramp for Bernard and Shirley Howard of Petersburg. Shirley uses a wheelchair after a fall, and she can now get out to be with family on Christmas.
Pastor Jeaux Simmons, of St. Marks United Methodist in Petersburg, says a blessing before lunch Monday, December 19, 2022. Peter Adler, aka Pete the Ramp Guy, organized the group to build a 43-foot-long ramp for Bernard and Shirley Howard in Petersburg. Shirley, who is in a wheelchair after a fall, now can get out to be with family on Christmas.
Peter Adler, also known as “Pete the Ramp Guy,” has built 347 ramps over the years for people with mobility issues.
On Monday, the latest was at the home of Bernard and Shirley Howard of Petersburg.
The Howards, both 87, needed a ramp after she slipped on the front steps and injured her hip on Thanksgiving. She was already using a walker after breaking her ankle three years ago.
The new 43-foot ramp will allow Shirley Howard to leave the home for the first time in weeks, opening the door for the Howards to visit their daughter for Christmas.
“I appreciate what they’re doing,” Bernard Howard said. “It’s amazing that you get these many volunteers that are willing to do this.”
Adler, 65, of Chesterfield County has organized groups of volunteers for more than 14 years. After listening to a presentation by Project:Homes about the issue of accessibility within the aging population, Adler got involved with the organization by doing prefabrication of their modules and then installing ramps for them.
Adler’s group became an independent, faith-based crew of builders after constructing numerous ramps for people who use wheelchairs or walkers or have mobility issues.
“It’s turned into an amazing ministry of many, many people involved,” Adler said.
Project:Homes frequently refers clients to Adler. The Howards, like other recipients, pay for the materials based on their income. Adler’s group purchases the supplies and brings the tools for each build.
The team typically serves central Virginia, but they have also taken mission trips to Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and other parts of Virginia.
“I really enjoy the process,” Adler said. “I enjoy meeting all the clients that we work with, understanding what their issues are and trying to figure out the best solution for them.”
The Rev. Jeaux Simmons is the pastor of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Petersburg and co-pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church in Colonial Heights. She heard about Adler’s group through word of mouth, and directed him toward the Howards, who have been members at St. Mark’s since 1965.
“I love their organization,” Simmons said. “I love their camaraderie, and I love that they’re brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Simmons even came to Monday’s build to help construct the ramp for her congregants. She was impressed by Adler’s guidance as she worked with the group for the first time.
“He is such an excellent teacher, and he doesn’t mind sharing his knowledge of how to do this,” Simmons said. “I was just blown away by that.”
Jim Donovan, 68, of Prince George, who also had his own group of builders before teaming with Adler, said people have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the volunteers, those who put in long hours regardless of the cost or the conditions.
“It’s reassuring that what you’re doing is God’s purpose, not your own,” Donovan said. “It’s bigger than us.”
While many of the ramps were built for older residents, people of all ages and needs have received assistance from Adler and his team.
One of Adler’s favorite stories occurred when the group built a ramp for a 4-year-old girl who had to use an electric wheelchair. Adler described the big smile on her face as she zipped up and down the finished ramp.
“It was amazing,” Adler said. “Just the joy of freedom.”
In October 1951, workers constructed a section of Forest Hill Avenue in South Richmond. The segment sits between Westover Hills Boulevard and Prince Arthur Road.
In December 1990, a Richmond Ballet dancer stretched before rehearsal of “The Nutcracker.”
In February 1953, Richmond Department of Utilities workers used a 65-foot hook-and-ladder firetruck to install new lights on Broad Street after attempts to secure other ladder equipment from private companies had failed.
In May 1954, Scoop sniffed around the pet food aisle at a grocery store in Richmond’s West End. The store offered a large selection of pet foods, a relatively new concept for the era. The accompanying article said: “Gone, apparently, are the days that Fido took the scraps from the table and liked them.”
In September 1942, members of Richmond Hotels Inc. donated typewriters to the War Production Board and the Office of War Information in response to an appeal for businesses to let the government have any machines they could spare.
In August 1981, children enjoyed outdoor recreation at Camp Happyland in the Richardsville area of Culpeper County, not far from Fredericksburg. The Salvation Army started the camp in the late 1950s to improve children’s health through exercise and proper nutrition.
In March 1971, a crowd estimated at several hundred waited outside City Council chambers at City Hall in downtown Richmond. Residents of the recently annexed Broad Rock area were protesting the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s proposal for low-rent public housing in the area.
In March 1969, a sign went up to mark the site of Henrico County’s first permanent designated library, on Laburnum Avenue near New Market Road. On hand were (from left) Varina District Supervisor Edwin Ragsdale, library board trustee Mrs. F.M. Vaughan, library assistant Virginia Liles and county libraries director David Rowland. The library opened in December 1970.
In June 1969, a Trappist monk at the Holy Cross Abbey near Berryville in Clarke County began his daily meditation. The monks spent their days balancing quiet prayer, spiritual reading and manual labor.
In June 1956, the Rev. Lawrence V. Bradley Jr. of Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond and his secretary, Jean Bolton, got out the summertime heat beater: a simple cardboard fan. The pews were liberally stocked during the warm months because the church had no air conditioning.
In July 1959, the normally bustling downtown Richmond business district, including this stretch along Eighth and Main streets, was much quieter as motorists stayed home because of triple-digit heat.
In April 1966, Union Bag-Camp Paper Corp. officials oversaw manufacturing at a new plant in Chesterfield County. The facility produced millions of bags for supermarket chains and other clients on the East Coast. At the time, about 265 employees worked in two local company plants; the old factory at 13th and Canal streets in Richmond was open for limited operation until it was sold.
In March 1969, a sign went up to mark the site of Henrico County’s first permanent designated library, on Laburnum Avenue near New Market Road. The branch opened in December 1970. Posing with the sign were (from left) Varina District Supervisor Edwin Ragsdale, library board trustee Mrs. F.M. Vaughan, library assistant Virginia Liles and county libraries director David Rowland.
In August 1982, David Tidwell of Croaker posed with his girlfriend’s dog, Blazing Amber of Cinder, at the humorous “Norge Dog Station” at Norge Grocery on U.S. Route 60 west of Williamsburg. The sign had been put up seven years earlier, and the spot became a popular photo opportunity for visitors.
In March 1987, in preparation for new carpeting, the Dumbarton branch library in Henrico County had to remove about 80,000 books from shelves. About 50 people handled the first phase overnight — but restocking the shelves awaited.
This 1957 photo shows Collegiate School in the 1600 block of Monument Avenue in Richmond. The Town School elementary building was on the left and the high school on the right. In 1960, the Town School and the Country Day School merged, operating on the campus off River and Mooreland roads in Henrico County. It remains the location today.
In November 1970, a Richmond officer rode his horse by the police bureau’s new stables, which were under construction. The facility near Brook Road and Chamberlayne Avenue included eight stalls, a scrub area, a horseshoeing area and a tack room. The bureau had been looking for an established home for its horses since the mid-1960s, when the Virginia National Guard moved from the Richmond Howitzers downtown armory, where the horses had been stabled for two decades.
In March 1971, a crowd estimated at several hundred waited outside City Council chambers at City Hall in downtown Richmond. Residents of the recently annexed Broad Rock area were protesting the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s proposal for low-rent public housing in the area.
In November 1948, Army Lt. Charles D. Smith Jr. administered the oath to the first set of postwar draftees processed at the Richmond induction station at First and Broad streets. Several of the men were immediately sent to Camp Pickett in Blackstone.
In December 1938, Richmond Glass Shop had a new home at 814 W. Broad St., site of the old Ashland Railway Station. The shop, run by brothers Frank R. and A.G. Bialkowski, had glass of many types, and offered bath and kitchen installation, storefront construction and paint products.
In March 1979, corrections officer Howard Alexander held the homemade rope used by convicted murderer Michael Irwin Cross to escape from the State Penitentiary, then located along Spring Street in downtown Richmond. Cross was captured two months later after attempting to free a fellow convict who was being treated at Medical College of Virginia Hospital.
In June 1986, “Mr. Newspaper” greeted a young girl and her mother at a Richmond-area mall. The RTD mascot often traveled around town promoting the newspaper.
In July 1951, Alonzo Moore, 74, walked down a street in Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore and blew his horn, alerting locals to his sale of the fresh catch of the day.
In July 1960, the Schellenberg family of Highland Springs prepared to have a bomb shelter installed in their yard, one of Virginia’s first privately owned radiation fallout shelters. The enclosure was designed to accommodate up to six people during a nuclear attack. The horizontal steel tank (rear) was 7 feet in diameter and 16 feet long. Once installed, the only elements aboveground would be a domed entrance and air filter and exhaust pipes.
In June 1979, Terry Woo set bricks for a walkway as construction of Kanawha Plaza in downtown Richmond continued. The $4 million dollar city-financed plaza linked the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond building and the Virginia Electric and Power Co. building.
In July 1951, two women enjoyed the white sand beach of Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
In June 1968, workers welded boilers at Old Dominion Iron and Steel Corp., located on Belle Isle under the Lee Bridge in Richmond. At the time, Old Dominion’s owner was interested in expanding operations, and the city was interested in using the island as part of a James River park. The company’s history on Belle Isle spanned from before the Civil War to the 1970s.
In November 1972, after the remnants of Hurricane Agnes had washed out a bridge, a barge carried vehicles and workers across the James River from Tredegar Street toward Belle Isle in Richmond. A day earlier, a welder for Old Dominion Iron and Steel Corp. drowned after a boat carrying him and others capsized on the same route.
This December 1973 photo shows the front counter in Roaring Twenties, a new restaurant and nightclub on state Route 10 in the Hopewell area. It was designed to resemble a 1920s speakeasy, with features including an antique cash register, a diving girl and even a dining table from Al Capone’s Florida home.
In October 1969, cadets at John Marshall High School in Richmond posed with their ribbon-bedecked sponsors after an awards ceremony. The school’s Corps of Cadets was established in 1915 — it was the first military training program in a public school in Virginia — and disbanded in 1971.
In May 1989, a transformer exploded under the sidewalk on the Fourth Street side of the Richmond Newspapers Inc. building downtown. The ensuing fireball charred two cars parked on the street and sent flames up the side of the building. No one was hurt in the nighttime explosion, and delivery of the next morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch (which was printed in the building) was only slightly delayed.
In August 1972, motorists approaching construction on Interstate 64 south of Bryan Park in Richmond were greeted by a robot signalman waving a bright red flag. “Silent Sam,” as the decoy was nicknamed, was used by the state Department of Highways to slow drivers as they neared workmen building an I-195 interchange and bridge near the Acca rail yards.
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Peter Adler, a.k.a. “Pete the Ramp Guy,” led a team that built a 43-foot ramp for Bernard and Shirley Howard of Petersburg. Shirley uses a wheelchair after a fall, and she can now get out to be with family on Christmas.
Pastor Jeaux Simmons, of St. Marks United Methodist in Petersburg, says a blessing before lunch Monday, December 19, 2022. Peter Adler, aka Pete the Ramp Guy, organized the group to build a 43-foot-long ramp for Bernard and Shirley Howard in Petersburg. Shirley, who is in a wheelchair after a fall, now can get out to be with family on Christmas.
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