2018 April/May Issue
New Industries Could Take Root as Cannabis Laws Change in Virginia
By Eric J. Wallace When Charles steps onto the front porch of his brick, ranch-style...
The Case of the Missing Explanation of Benefits
Recently, in mid-March, my wife brought me a medical bill we’d received asking for several...
tHRive Partners with the Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Virginia
tHRive, the young professional program of the Hampton Roads Chamber, announced the selection of the...
Chesapeake City Council Makes Strategic Move to Attract Business in Data Center Sector
Chesapeake now has one of the lowest personal property tax rates for data centers in...
Top Docs 2018
For over 15 years, Coastal Virginia Magazine's Top Docs peer to peer survey has conducted...
Reinventing the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame at Virginia Beach Town Center
By Leona Baker Photos by Jon Abrahams When visitors use their phones to scan a...
New Ideas to Make Virginia Beach an Even Greater Vacation Destination
By Barrett Baker Even though about 90 percent of Virginia Beach residents believe that tourism...
Coastal Virginia’s Tourism Outlook
Effects of Tourism on Local Economy, Plus Coming Attractions and Ideas for Growth Tourism is...
STIHL Breaks Ground on New Facility in Virginia Beach
The leading outdoor power equipment manufacturer STIHL, headquartered in Virginia Beach, celebrated its U.S. expansion...
Out-of-Network Follies with Health Insurance
“We just got another $2800 bill from Johnny’s surgery. From the anesthesiologist. I don't understand...
Percolator Coworking Space Expands in Downtown Norfolk
Percolator, a coworking space owned and founded by developer Bobby Wright, recently announced an expansion...
5 Smart Tips for Smartphone Etiquette
By Angela Blue It’s a given that our smartphones are so ingrained in our everyday...
757 Accelerate Gains Momentum
757 Accelerate announced the City of Virginia Beach as a new sponsor and the hiring...
Troy University to Host Open House in Chesapeake
Troy University’s Hampton Roads location will host an Open House on May 8 from 9...
O’Connor Brewing Named Norfolk Small Business of the Year
O’Connor Brewing Company was named Hampton Roads Chamber’s 2018 Norfolk Small Business of the Year....
Suffolk Firefighters Support MDA with Fill-the-Boot Drive
The Suffolk Local 2801 Professional Fire and Rescue is supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)...
JES is One of the Fastest Expanding Companies in the Nation
By Ryan Miller JES Founders and Co-Owners Jesse and Stella Waltz and CEO Matt Malone....
Whitley Peanut Factory Receives Governor’s Grant for Expansion
Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Whitley Peanut Factory, Inc. will invest nearly $530,000 to expand...
Suburban Capital Announces Plans to Develop Hyatt Place in Virginia Beach
Suburban Capital, Inc., a privately held commercial real estate company headquartered in Virginia Beach since...
Bon Secours Hampton Roads Hospitals Earn ‘A’ in Patient Safety
Bon Secours Virginia Health System recently announced that Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk,...
Lisa Chandler Leads a Life and Business Centered on Family
By Grace Silipigni Photos by David Uhrin For 45 years, Norfolk has borne witness to...
SSSEVA’s Meals on Wheels Program Receives Donation from Subaru
Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia (SSSEVA) received $7,328.73 by participating in the 2017-2018 Subaru Share...
Portsmouth Public Schools Recognized as ‘Schools of the Future’
Patcraft, a leading provider of performance flooring solutions, has recognized Portsmouth Public Schools as the...
Muhlbauer International Expands Newport News Location
Muhlbauer International, a technology partner for the smart card, ePassport and solar back-end industry, expanded...
757 Angels and ivWatch Collaborate at Tom Tom Founders Festival
757 Angels and ivWatch recently collaborated during an entrepreneurship session at Tom Tom Founders Festival,...
3 Local Entrepreneurs Share Experiences in Freelancing
By Jamie McAllister Have you ever fantasized about striking out on your own as a...
North End Bag Company and Evofit, LLC Awarded ViBe Grants
Virginia Beach Economic Development, in collaboration with the Office of Cultural Affairs and ViBe Creative...
ITA International and Virginia Tech Launch Data Analytics Program
ITA International is partnering with Virginia Tech Hampton Roads Center, Newport News to offer the...
Suffolk Executive Offices Empower Businesses and Entrepreneurs
By Ryan Miller Based in a refurbished historic office space built in 1929 that was...
Kaufman & Canoles Attorneys Named as Super Lawyers and Virginia Rising Stars
Kaufman & Canoles, P.C. announced that 31 of its attorneys were selected for inclusion in...
Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group Raises $17,000 for Nonprofits
Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group raised $17,000 for local nonprofits during their annual Golf Fore Gratitude...
Second Act Communities and Virginia Beach Community Development Award Community Leaders
Second Act Communities and Virginia Beach Community Development Corporation hosted their Annual Meeting on April...
O’Connor Brewing Receives Virginia’s Fantastic 50 Award
The Virginia Chamber of Commerce awarded O’Connor Brewing Company among 50 of the fastest growing...
Cyclists Ride to Raise Funds for National MS Society
In an effort to raise $800,000 toward a world free of MS, 900 cyclists will...
Red Rocket Signs’ Hand-Painted Commercial Signs
By Ryan Miller Way before an era of vinyl lettering and digital printing, signs displayed...
By Ryan Miller
Way before an era of vinyl lettering and digital printing, signs displayed before buildings for business and billboards across town were hand-painted, showing with them a signature craftsmanship and certain sleight of hand performed with painstaking patience and diligent attention to detail.
Approaching his work with a retrospective perspective, Rodney Vicik has been hand-painting and hand-lettering commercial signs since 1981, and under the business moniker of Red Rocket Signs based in Hampton, he specializes in signs, pinstriping, window lettering, boat lettering and banners. Restaurants such as The Barking Dog and Deadrise owe their logo’d lettered looks to Red Rocket Signs, as do the boats with their names brandished in brushstrokes at Bluewater Yacht Sales, Dandy Haven Marina and Bell Isle Marina.
“Red Rocket makes me think of the ’40s and ’50s, and people were really thinking about the industrial age and rockets,” Vicik remarks, reflecting on the name of his business as a homage to a time skyrocketing with ingenuity. “Sign-painting was really big; that was the heyday.”
Growing up in rural Virginia, raised by a single parent and without the income to afford college, Vicik had a skill for drawing and found his trade after an aptitude test revealed his qualifications in sign painting, leading him to work in Coastal Virginia with Sign Engineering. While the first computerized sign makers came to the market in the 1980s, Vicik, attuned to his skill set, kept with his craft over the years. “It’s all gone to quick, cookie-cutter, vinyl letters and now digital printing. I really wanted to distinguish myself from that.”
Depending on the job, hand-painting signs can take anywhere from five minutes to a day to even a month to complete. The quality though is impeccable, as Vicik remains poised with his paintbrush, attentive to every cursive curve of letters and each lively layer of color.
Visit Facebook.com/RedRocketSigns to learn more about Red Rocket Signs.
