Publisher Bill Bowman is on vacationthis week and yields this space to Rep. RichardHudson for an update.

As the saying goes, “A little progress each day adds up to big results.” Just as longterm pressure creates diamonds or water in a river eventually smooths stone, dedicated and persistent efforts often yield big results. As we mark the first 500 days of the Trump administration, our continuous efforts in the House of Representatives have added up to some impressive wins for the
American people. Make no mistake, there’s still much more work to do, but we are getting our nation back on the right track and making a real difference in people’s lives.

This Congress, we’ve taken the lead on keeping our promises to the American people. So far, we’ve passed 695 bills out of the House, with 175 of them being signed into law by President Donald Trump.

What are those bills we’ve passed? How about tax cuts that have led to more jobs and more take-home pay for working families across the country. How about bipartisan legislation to reduce the flow of fentanyl and synthetic opioids across our borders and to get these dangerous drugs off our streets. How about bipartisan legislation to give critically ill patients the ability to try innovative and potentially lifesaving medications. All of these and more have already been signed into law.

This week, we also added two more major accomplishments to that growing list. Trump signed the bipartisan Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research (STAR) Act, the most significant pediatric cancer research bill ever passed by Congress. As the co-chair of the Pediatric Trauma Caucus and a proud father, I recognize how critical it is to care for our children, and this is another important step to help deliver hope and cures to children and their families.

Another piece of legislation that was signed into law this week was the VA MISSION Act. This bipartisan bill seeks to make good on one of our most sacred promises – to take care of our men and women in uniform both before and after their service. By condensing all the various community care programs at the VA into one single program, we can empower veterans to more easily access a doctor who suits their unique needs. This bill follows the same principles of my bill, the Care Veterans Deserve Act, to make sure veterans can access private health care if they want.

While we celebrate these accomplishments, I know there is still a lot of work to be done. Unfortunately, there are still more than 500 House-passed bills that are collecting dust waiting on action in the Senate. These are not meaningless bills either – they are critical initiatives like improving job opportunities for veterans and helping to end human trafficking.

This Congress, Washington continues to be plagued by historic obstructionism. However, I know there is too much at stake to give up. As your voice in Congress, I’ll continue to push for our shared values. We must continue to fight every day, and I won’t give up until the job is done. There’s too much at stake.

In general, we think we know history, or at least have working knowledge of it. Finding out differently can be enlightening and even jarring, but knowing the truth, in context, is freeing – for everyone. Tuesday, June 19, the North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center presents Hari Jones, an expert on the role of African-Americans in the Civil War. Jones’ speech “How the Civil War Made America Great” begins at 7 p.m. and will take place at Fayetteville State University in the Rudolph Jones Student Center.

Jones has shared his extensive knowledge of African-American history on programs and documentaries aired on CSPAN, Fox News, NBC, PBS, BBC, the American Heroes Channel, the History Channel, the Smithsonian Channel and many local outlets. He was a content developer for the National Park Service museum at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee, Alabama, a content adviser for the American Civil War Center exhibit “Take Our Stand” and a content adviser for the National Archives and Records Administration exhibit “Discovering the Civil War.” He also curated the exhibit “Clearing a Path for Democracy: Citizen Soldiers of the Fighting Eighth in World War I” at the DuSable Museum of African-American History in Chicago.

Jones credits his grandmother and great-grandmother with fostering his passion for history. “I was a curious child,” he said. “I was really interested in the military, so they directed me to books written by African-American authors like William Nell, whose book ‘The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution’ was published in 1852.” Jones read extensively about the African-American experience throughout our nation’s history, specifically seeking out sources written by African-Americans so he could learn about their viewpoints.

Jones continued to study the military and history, eventually joining the Marine Corps where he served as an infantryman, an artillery officer and an intelligence officer. As an instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, Jones had an experience that focused his passion for American history, specifically from the African-American perspective.

“I taught Marine Corps practicum,” Jones said. “I asked one of my peers why there were no African-American teachings on American war, and he said, ‘because they didn’t write anything.’ I knew that was false, so I realized this was a need even in our military academies. So, when I retired, I went to the Library of Congress.”

Jones spent almost every day there for about three years. During that time, he read books from the perspective of African-Americans. But when he wanted to study what he called “the big picture” and strategy, he found that the African-American voice was missing. “It was annoying because it was like telling the story of the NBA finals and making it appear there were no African-Americans on the court,” Jones said. “So, I started working more on finding primary sources. Once I was conversant, I wanted to share what I knew.”

And he’s been doing that ever since. He said it’s not always easy, though, because Americans have certain perspectives ingrained in the collective psyche. And these perspectives are often factually incorrect and even destructive.

“One of the biggest challenges in telling history accurately is that we have so many people invested in false narratives and who are even victims of false narratives,” Jones said. “Often, they’ve been successful and have even built their career on it. Think about it this way: If you go to the doctor and tell him lies about your family’s medical history, he can’t help you as he could if you told him the truth. America as a country cannot heal what ails us if we don’t face our truth.”

When the North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center was in the early planning stages, senior consultant David Winslow took a group of leaders from Fayetteville to look at museums in Washington, D.C. The team visited the African American Civil War Museum. That’s where they first heard Hari Jones; he was giving a talk on the Civil War from the African-American perspective. “It was an eye-opening experience,” Winslow said. “This is an important part of the American story. We invited him to Fayetteville in 2012, and he gave a talk at Cape Fear Regional Theatre. It was filled to the rafters with more than 400 people. We knew we wanted to have him back, and this seemed like the perfect time. Where he is coming from is different (than) where others come from.”

The presentation scheduled for June 19 focuses on the perspective that there were no losers – North or South, Union or Confederate – because the war effectively formed a more perfect union and secured liberty for millions of Americans who had not known such freedom before. In his talk about how the Civil War made America great, Jones stresses that the Civil War story “belongs to all of us. It is the story of how we got rid of that which made us less than great.”

One way that Jones approaches the topic is his stance that in being honest about who we are as a country, we need to tell history not based on which side our ancestors fought on.

“All of us who are Americans should be pleased with the outcome,” he said. “I hope this takes us to (a place) where, when we talk about this subject, we talk about it as Americans. I hope I
can work in telling the story in such a way that people are not making it a race discussion but a discussion of how America became great. I want America to appreciate this chapter in our history as an American story – because it is an American story.”

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, comes on Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, an American holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery
in Texas. It has also come to commemorate more generally the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans throughout the former Confederacy.

For more information, call the NC Civil War & Reconstruction History Center at 910-491-0602 or visit www.nccivilwarcenter.com.

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Craig Raye has barely been on the ground with his Westover football team a year, since he was a late hire prior to the 2017 season.

That’s why an emphasis on this year’s spring practice for the Wolverines was getting to know everyone and taking time to evaluate newcomers to the roster.

The good news coming out of spring is that it looks like Westover is going to have some depth to work with this season.

“A lot of our first liners weren’t here,’’ Raye said, referring to football players who were taking part in other spring sports for the Wolverines and missed the spring conditioning program. “We had the opportunity to work with some of the younger guys and give them some more individual attention.’’

The Wolverines were 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the Patriot Athletic Conference last year, advancing to the state 3-A playoffs and losing 76-12 to Southern Nash in the first round.

“I think my biggest liability was not knowing some of the kids, and we had to play them out of position,’’ Raye said. “We wanted to re-teach anything that wasn’t taught the right way and get my philosophy in. I think that’s what we’ve accomplished.’’

Looking ahead to the fall, Raye thinks the Wolverines will be strong in the running game, led by the return of running back Dmarion Ford. Ford missed spring drills because of his involvement with the Westover track team. He led Westover in rushing last season with 633 yards.

He was an excellent kick returner, and Raye plans to make full use of that skill this season.

“We’re going to give the ball to him every opportunity we have,’’ Raye said. “Several colleges have been here to recruit him this year.’’

Other veterans returning in the backfield for Westover are Da’niel King and Keyshown McLean.

Anchoring the offensive and defensive lines will be senior Pernell Shoulars, who stands 6-feet-5 inches tall and weighs 300 pounds.

“We expect him to lead the pack,’’ Raye said.

Shoulars said the team has already gotten a lot closer as the result of the spring workouts.

“Coach Raye came in with a take charge attitude,’’ Shoulars said. “He needed things done his way. Over the course of last season, we learned to accept his way, and that’s helped us in the long run.’’

Shoulars agrees with Raye that Westover should be able to run the football. “We’ve got some big boys in the middle and guards that are quick on their feet,’’ he said. “Last year we were great in the passing game, and I don’t think that’s going to die down any.’’

Westover will open the season with 4-A rival Seventy-First this fall, and Shoulars has set the bar high for himself. “I want to get at least seven tackles and three sacks,’’ he said.

Shoulars knows the Wolverines will face a major challenge in the Patriot Athletic Conference, but he’s looking forward to it. “It got tougher for us, but that only makes us the bigger underdog when we beat everybody,’’ he said. “If we can get discipline, I don’t see a team beating us.’’

PHOTO: Pernell Shoulars

Mark Kahlenberg, head coach of the Hope Mills Boosters entry in American Legion baseball play this summer, is glad for the deep run made by Terry Sanford in this year’s state 3-A playoffs. But he admits it’s made his job of putting a competitive Legion team together challenging.

After holding a preliminary workout a couple of weeks ago, Kahlenberg has settled on drawing from Cape Fear, South View, Purnell Swett, Terry Sanford and North Duplin for this year’s squad.

“We can only take 5,000 total enrollments,’’ he said. “We had an open tryout.”

Terry Sanford made it to the 3-A Regional finals before losing in three games to Wilmington New Hanover.

As of last Wednesday, Kahlenberg was waiting to hear from several of the Terry Sanford players on their plans to join the Boosters this summer.

At the writing of this story, the only Terry Sanford player committed was former Bulldog Damian Puczylowski, who will be a member of the first baseball team at Fayetteville Technical Community College next spring.

“If we get a good turnout from them, I feel we’ll have a great chance,’’ Kahlenberg said. “If we can get nine or 10 of the guys we have listed to pitch, I feel good about being in that state final eight in the middle of July.’’

Even without the Terry Sanford players, the Boosters are off to a good start. They were 2-0 entering their first home game of the season last Wednesday against Wallace, which was rained out after being moved from their usual home field at South View to Methodist University.

Kahlenberg figures competition will come from the usual suspects, traditional powers Whiteville and Wilmington Post 10, along with a Wallace team that returns with a solid core from last season.

A couple of Hope Mills returnees looking for a good year are Puczylowski and South View’s Riley Caudle.

Puczylowski is looking forward to a reunion with his Terry Sanford teammates. “If they all get out here, we’ll dominate,’’ he said.

Caudle said Legion baseball is a great environment. “You get to meet new people and you play so many games,’’ he said.

A major change for Legion ball will be a switch to seven-inning games this summer. Kahlenberg thinks the change will allow teams to lean more heavily on their top two or three pitchers.

“A lot happens when you get into the bullpens,’’ he said. “We will have to place more emphasis on scoring runs early and trying to get into other teams’ bullpens earlier.’’

The team has planned a special ceremony to honor longtime Hope Mills coach Doug Watts, who retired and recently moved to the coast after 51 years in American Legion baseball.

The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on June 9, a Saturday, when Hope Mills plays Jacksonville.

PHOTO: Damian Puczylowski

People in the motorcycle industry work hard to get people to buy their bikes. They work even harder to get consumers to buy into their brand and stay with it. Look at Harley-Davidson. They are geniuses at marketing. They market to every age, but the upper-tier motorcycle brands are out of reach for most first-time buyers. When I say upper-tier brands, I mean companies like Harley-Davidson, BMW, Ducati and now, Indian. Other brands have not had the commercial success of Harley-Davidson, but they have brand name recognition for other reasons, like reputation.

A few years ago, I was at an event and was able to hear BMW’s vice president of marketing speak. He told us that BMW has an 88-year marketing plan. At the time, their concern was first-time motorcycle sales because, as an industry, those sales had been declining. They looked at various data points to decide their roadmap – average income, number of years of riding experience, and the cost of first-time bike sales. As a new rider, you have two choices: New or used. Cost is a big factor for the new rider. Traditionally, the upper-tier brands are not the first bike a person owns.

These companies continue to work to get people into their showrooms. Harley-Davidson does a great job at community events and creating branded clothing, and most dealerships offer motorcycle riding classes.

The folks at BMW are changing the marketplace again. This year, they have introduced the G 310 R with a starting price of $4,750, which includes antilock brake system, or ABS, brakes.

A few weeks ago, I visited my friends at Garcia Motorsports in Raleigh, and they had just gotten in on the G 310 R. They are very accommodating and let you take a bike out for test ride. I hopped on. At first, I was blown away that you could get anything with the label BMW on it for this price. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it rode quite nicely. At 349 pounds, this bike is lightweight and nimble.

The bike is clean, and there is no sign of a lack in quality for the price’s sake. The display features an LCD dash with a bar graph tachometer, gear indicator, shift light and trip computer. ABS is standard. This is a great feature for a new rider. When given the option, I strongly recommend getting ABS. It has saved me a number of times.

The BMW dealership is on the outskirts of Raleigh, so it is easy to catch an Interstate, back roads and, of course, stop-and-go traffic. The bike was taller than I expected. The seat has a 30.9-inch seat height. There are different bike positions. Both sports and the cruiser are generally low. Some bikes ride high or more upright. In particular, I like being high because I can see over most cars and feel more comfortable in the upright position.

From the stop light, it was easy to get going and get ahead of traffic. At the posted speed limits, the bike had plenty of power. If you like riding above the speed limit, then depending on your weight, you may want to add a windshield.

BMW is also expanding the 310 line to include a 310 GS. If you are not familiar with the GS family, The GS refers to either Gelände/Straße (German: off-road/road) or Gelände Sport. The GS series of dual purpose off-road/on-road BMW motorcycles have been produced from 1980, when the R80G/S was launched, to the present day.

Not only is BMW offering a sub $5,000 price entry bike, but so is Suzuki, Honda and KTM.

This is also great news for people who already own a bike. Maybe you want to have a sport bike feel for a low price. If so, check out the Honda CBR300R or the Kawasaki Ninja 300. If you are looking for that naked sport bike feel, then check out the KTM 390 DUKE.

I hope that more manufacturers follow suit and start creating lowerpriced options for first-time buyers and bikers who want the option of adding another bike to their collection for an affordable price.

If there is a topic you would like to discuss, you can contact me at motorcycle4fun@aol.com. RIDE SAFE!

Brent Spivey has had a passion for building and racing cardboard boats for about 15 years. He’s hoping other people and businesses in and around Hope Mills will develop the same enthusiasm when the town holds its first cardboard boat race and demolition derby Saturday, June 30.

Final registration begins at 11 a.m. the day of the race, although pre-registration is encouraged to get a race T-shirt in your preferred size. Judging begins at noon, and the racing follows shortly afterward.

The competition is part of the town’s lake celebration that coincides with the run-up to the town’s annual celebration of the Fourth of July.

Spivey said he’s raced cardboard boats all over the state of North Carolina and even went all the way to Arkansas to compete in the 2015 world championship. He won the world championship that year with a boat called North Carolina Spirit.

He approached Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner with the idea of having a cardboard boat race as part of the lake celebration activities. “She was ecstatic,’’ he said.

Spivey said he built his first cardboard boat, a replica of a Viking ship, from cardboard boxes he scavenged from the dump and furniture stores.

“I laid out the ribs and did everything,’’ Spivey said. “I really overdid it. It was very heavy.’’ Spivey said the basic design of a cardboard boat is to make it with the fewest seams possible, those
points where separate pieces of cardboard come together.

“The more cardboard you have and the bigger the pieces, the better,’’ Spivey said. As for ideas for boat designs, Spivey has borrowed from movies and history. He once did boats modeled after the Civil War ironclads Monitor and Virginia. He also did the famous shark-fishing boat Orca from the hit film “Jaws.”

Other decisions go into the design, like figuring out how many people will occupy the boat. That’s one thing that surprises most people, Spivey said, because when they hear it’s a cardboard boat they assume it’s a miniature, not one large enough for human passengers.

“I did one that had six people in it,’’ he said. “It was 25-feet long. It was a big ambition. It did sink.’’

One of the biggest challenges Spivey faces is staying within the bounds of reality when designing a boat. Getting cardboard the right size is a challenge. For the biggest pieces, he said refrigerator boxes are an excellent option. When people register to enter the boat race, Spivey said the town of Hope Mills has some pretty good-sized sheets of cardboard available to entrants. “They can get one, two or three sheets with their registration fee, then they can buy more,’’ he said.

Another factor to consider in boat-building is the distance of the race and exactly what kind of competition you’re in. For the Hope Mills event, those who are looking to build the fastest boat should know the plan is for this to be what Spivey calls a fairly short course.

For shorter races, he suggests a boat 6 to 8 feet long. The Hope Mills course will be in the vicinity of the public swimming area at Hope Mills Lake. It will run parallel to the shore – about 50 to 75 yards. Competitors will have to make one turn and then come back.

But speed isn’t going to be the only factor in fielding a winning boat, Spivey said.

There will be a Pride of the Fleet Award for bestlooking boat, a Team Spirit Award for the boat with best spirit, which will be judged on theme and costumes, and a Titanic Award for the most spectacular sinking.

At the end of the competition, any boats that competed in at least one heat and survived will be eligible to compete in the demolition derby, with the surviving boat taking the Iron Clad Award.

There’s also a People’s Choice Award for the boat with the most donations. Donations and entry fees will go to support various lake improvement projects.

A complete list of rules on competition categories and materials permitted in boat construction is available at www.townofhopemills.com. For further information, call 910-734-9994.

“This is a family-oriented thing,’’ Spivey said. “It’s fun. You should come with a real fun attitude.’’

Meetings

For details about all meetings and activities, including location where not listed, call Acting Deputy Town Clerk Tiffany Gillstedt at 910-426-4112. Most meetings take place at Town Hall.

• Historic Preservation Commissioners Wednesday, June 13, 5 p.m.

Activities

• Hope Mills Area Kiwanis Club at Sammio’s, second Tuesdays at noon at and fourth Tuesdays at 6 p.m. For details, call 910-237-1240.

• Fall sports registration through July 28. $30 per child; $15 late fee after registration deadline. Season begins Sept. 8. Call 910-426-4109 for details.

• Food truck Rodeo Thursday, June 7, 5-8 p.m. Held in the big parking lot at Town Hall.

• First Annual 4th of July Pageant Friday-Saturday, June 22-23. For more information, call 910-426-4107.

• Senior programs – 55 plus: Jewelry Techniques, Tuesday, June 19, 9-11 a.m. and 12:30-2:30 p.m. in the small activity room of the Hope Mills Parks and Rec center. Each participant will learn to make two pairs of dangle earrings; all supplies and beads will be provided. $5. Sign up at front reception desk. Only 10 seats available per workshop.

Promote yourself: To include your business’s event, email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com.

What was going to be a celebration of jazz at Hope Mills Lake has expanded to include a celebration of the arts as the town hosts its first Art and Jazz at the Lake event next month on Monday, July 2. It will be from 6-9 p.m.

A day earlier, the town will observe music of a different kind with Church at the Lake, beginning at 6 p.m.

Dr. Bob Kretzu, pastor at Hope Mills United Methodist Church, is helping coordinate both events because of his obvious connections with faith groups and his avid hobby as a painter.

Kretzu said the initial plan was to just have a jazz festival, but organizers felt adding art might be a good fit. “They invited me to provide leadership for that because of my art background,’’ he said. “It will be a great night with cool jazz and artists painting at the lake shore. There will be activities for kids, water coloring and partnering.

“We are partnering with Kid Creative Studios to make sure there is plenty of stuff for kids.’’

A jazz group with ties to Fayetteville Technical Community College, the All-American Jazz Quintet, will anchor the jazz performances. “They have a pretty wide repertoire,’’ Kretzu said of the band.

In addition to the jazz performance, the grassy area at the lake will be occupied by various North Carolina artists, with arts and crafts booths set up.

“People will have a chance to try their hand at arts and crafts and buy arts and crafts,’’ Kretzu said.

Tables will be set up for children to enjoy painting or drawing.

Representatives from the Hope Mills senior citizens recreation group will also be on hand, Kretzu said. “One of the things they’ll emphasize is weaving mats out of plastic grocery bags,’’ Kretzu said. “They’ll be there demonstrating how to do that and giving people a chance to do that.’’

There will also be a balloon artist on the premises, Kretzu said. And, there will be plenty of food available.

Big T’s will be open adjacent to the lake with its usual fare, and at the other end of the lake, at least three food trucks will be operating. Kretzu doesn’t know exactly which three trucks will be on the scene, but he said the plan is to make sure that they are trucks that don’t offer the same fare as Big T’s so people will have a variety to choose from. In addition, the road over the dam and spillway will be closed to vehicle traffic so people will be able to walk around more freely.

All those planning to attend and enjoy the jazz performance, which will be based at the gazebo at the Big T’s end of the lake, are advised to bring their own portable chairs or blankets to sit on and enjoy the music.

“My understanding is they will be performing during that whole time,’’ Kretzu said. “They will take breaks.’’

Parking will be available at various businesses across the street from the lake. There will be other designated parking, and there will be lights in the grassy area of the lake park so there won’t be any dark areas.

As for Church at the Lake on July 1, the performance will begin at 6 p.m. A gospel band from Hope Mills United Methodist Church, Common Ground, will be the featured group. Other scheduled
music will be provided by Highland Baptist Church and Grace Place on Main Street in Hope Mills.

Kretzu said there would be no formal liturgy, no sermon and no offering collected. The emphasis will be on audience singalong and group musical performances. The performers will all be at the gazebo, and spectators are again urged to bring their own chairs or blankets for seating.

Kretzu said he hopes both events will become annual activities in Hope Mills.

For further information on either Art and Jazz at the Lake or Church at the Lake, contact Kretzu at 919-638-5827 or bkretzu@hotmail.com.

When Dr. Gerald Ellison approached Dr. Menno Pennink about ways he could help support the Gilbert Theater in downtown Fayetteville, Pennink was quick to suggest a classical concert fundraiser in his private music room on Person Street. With that, the seed that would become the Gilbert Theater’s Matinée and Fundraiser was planted. The afternoon of Sunday, June 10, the music room will open to a small number of ticket-holders for an intimate night of classical music.

Pennink, a now-retired neurosurgeon, has been involved with many important ventures in Fayetteville since moving to the city in 1974. He was responsible for bringing the first computed tomography scan machine to the Fayetteville area in 1975. Pennink said, “Surgery was my profession, but I have been heavily involved in the revitalization of the downtown area.”

Pennink has long been a believer in downtown Fayetteville as well as the arts and culture in the area. He is an accomplished concert violinist and began playing in the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra when he first moved to the area. He later bought and renovated the space on Person Street that would become his personal, private music room – The Capitol Room. Inside The Capitol Room, the floors shine beneath the overhead lights, and the space is graced by the presence of a Steinway & Sons concert grand piano.

“The music room is sort of a hidden treasure,” Pennink said. “People don’t know about it. It’s not advertised.”

The collaboration between Pennink, with his background in the arts and his long-term investments in downtown Fayetteville, and the Gilbert Theater makes sense. The program for the evening
includes performances by Pennink as well as other classically trained musicians from the surrounding areas, including the renowned violinist Olesya Dashkevych of Winston-Salem. Musical selections to be featured include arrangements of classical chamber-music pieces by Beethoven, Schubert, Medtner and Massenet.

All proceeds from the performance benefit the Gilbert Theater, which is preparing to enter its 25th season of providing the Fayetteville area with quality theater.

The 2018-19 season opens in September with “Godspell.” The silver anniversary season will also include productions of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Doubt,” “The Laramie Project” and a stage adaptation of the classic C.S. Lewis novel “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.”

The money raised from tickets to the matinée event will help the theater produce these shows and fund its many educational initiatives, including camps and classes for school-aged children. The Gilbert runs after-school classes for ages 8-15, a summer acting camp for ages 6-17, and glee/acting classes for ages 6-16. For those ages 16 and up, the Gilbert offers the Gilbert Actor Theatre Ensemble, G.A.T.E.

The Gilbert Theater’s Matinée and Fundraiser will take place on June 10 at 3:30 p.m. at The Capitol Room, 134 Person St., in downtown Fayetteville. Admission is $30, and 50 tickets are available. Tickets can be purchased online at www.gilberttheater.com. For more information, contact the Gilbert Theater at 910-678-7186.

Save the drama for ya momma, they say. But what if the drama is with your mom, your dad, your siblings, your partner – everybody? Well, then, you get a Tennessee Williams play. The last show of the Gilbert Theater’s 2017-18 season is Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Emotions and temperatures ran high on the small stage of the Gilbert, along with a warning to the audience
about a broken air conditioning system. Fortunately, the heat works in the play’s favor. You feel like a devil sweating your sins out in a packed Sunday church. And there’s plenty of sin to go around.

One summer day in the South, a rich, dysfunctional family gathers to celebrate a birthday but disintegrates under the weight of their hate. Their lies. Money. Sex. You name it, they fight about it. Who is sleeping with whom? Who is getting the inheritance?  What is not being said? Questions swirl until you are stifled and exhausted.

The play opens with a voyeuristic view of our main characters, husband and wife Brick (James Hartley) and Maggie (Nicki Hart). Shadow silhouettes behind white screens entrance us as they
shower and ready themselves for Big Daddy’s birthday. Given the size and limitations of a theater like the Gilbert, it’s always so special and invitational when brilliant flairs of set design like this are executed.

In this opening scene, Brick and Maggie are already arguing. Maggie wants sex. Brick wants silence – and his whisky. But this is merely the façade of their marital problems.

Brick is interrogated incessantly about his drinking problem. Big Mama (Rhonda Brocki) fusses. Maggie alternates between seducing and blackmailing him out of drinking. Meanwhile, Big Daddy insists Brick stops “passing the buck.” You gotta love the tenacity of family sometimes, right?

James Dean (of modern times) as Big Daddy is transfixing. Trained at the Lee Strasberg Institute in Los Angeles, Dean’s acting chops are light years above the mark. The green stage lighting
on him as he contemplates old memories and confronts impending death gives eerie homage to scenes from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo.”

Overall, though, the production succeeds best at capturing how appearances are never what they seem to be.

Brick and Maggie are a couple so clearly divided, there might as well be a 20-foot concrete wall, complete with batteries, trenches and moat between them. The instinct is to empathize for a spark plug like Maggie, settling for a husband who merely tolerates her presence. One gets the same feeling for Big Mama, who is berated by the misogynistic and cruel Big Daddy.

But there’s sympathy to be had for Brick, too. He struggles with the confusion and homophobia that surrounds his friendship with the late Skipper.

A claustrophobic time bomb of a tale, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” articulates how difficult it is to communicate, even with family, about our most deeply personal fears and issues. The play could be
summed up entirely when Maggie says, “Lean on me,” and Brick replies, “I don’t want to lean on you. I want my crutch.”

We can try to talk it out, but sometimes people aren’t ready to dissect and understand and fit each missing piece with another corresponding piece. They’d rather be a cat on a hot tin roof: do what is easy and avoid the conversation altogether.

Some of the other standout performances of the night are from side characters like Mae (Staci Graybill) and the Reverend (Larry Carlisle). They manage to serve their characters while also alleviating enormous tension with understated hilarity.

The Gilbert is closing out a season fraught with the caged hearts of those aching to be free. “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is tense punctuation mark to that end. Shows will run until June 10. For tickets and information, visit www.gilberttheater.com.

Fayetteville After 5 presented by Bud Light brings Slippery When Wet, the Ultimate Bon Jovi Tribute Band, to Festival Park. A local summertime entertainment staple, Fayetteville After 5 is set for Friday, June 8.

“This is the second installment in our Fayetteville After 5 summer concert Series,” said Sarah Suggs, marketing and events coordinator. “We open at 5 p.m. with the music beginning at 6 p.m.”

The event usually opens with local talent, and this concert is no different. This month’s evening will feature local band Matrix as the opening act.

The purpose of the Dogwood Festival Organization is to provide free events for the community. “The After 5 series really helps us raise more money to go towards our Spring Festival,” said
Suggs. “We want to make the festival bigger and better each year.” Suggs added that each event is a fundraiser for the next event.

Slippery When Wet was formed in 2003 by Jason Morey. The band members are Jason Morey, Adin Stickle, Jimmi Botsford and John Martin. The band has played over 1,500 shows throughout
the United States. They were the headliners for more than 60 cruises on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and played for the pre-game of Super Bowl 48 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In 2018, Morey was chosen to perform as the only impersonator to Jon Bon Jovi in the Legends in Concert show.

“We are hoping this will be the most successful After 5 season yet,” said Suggs. “We look forward to a huge crowd – so come out and enjoy good food and music.”

Food trucks will be on-site. Beer will be available for purchase. No outside food, coolers or beverages will be permitted. Bring your blankets and chairs. Gates open at 5 p.m.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call 910-323-1934.

On June 9, at 7:30 p.m., as part of Army Entertainment’s Summer Comedy Tour, Fort Bragg will host a show featuring Carlos Mencia, Trish Suhr and Jordan Rock.

Mencia is a comedian best known for his work as the host of the Comedy Central show “Mind of Mencia.” Mencia has also appeared in movies, including “The Heartbreak Kid” and “Our Family Wedding.”

With a wide range of styles, including man-on-the-street interviews, studio comedy, commercial parodies, nationwide sold-out tours and films, Mencia is known for his ability to connect with a large and diverse audience. According to the MWR website, “In the last couple years, Mencia chose to go back to his comedic roots, allowing him to share his newest material with smaller and more intimate audiences. In addition to touring, Mencia is continuously writing material for television pilots and upcoming comedy specials.”

Performing with Mencia will be Trish Suhr, best known for her work on the video game “Grand Theft Auto V,” and Jordan Rock, who previously worked for “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.”

The show will be held in the Sports USA Building, 3-2102 Longstreet Rd., Fort Bragg.

“Sports USA has a capacity of up to 1,000 people depending on the event, but we expect 400 to 600 people based on the number of tickets we’re selling,” said Anika Stickles of the Fort Bragg Marketing Office.

Parking is available on-site. For more information, go to https://bragg.armymwr.com/calendar/event/army-entertainment-summer-comedy-tour/2256401/26970 or call 910-907-0739.

Tickets for the show are $20 and can be purchased in person at Sports USA or online through the website listed above. The show is available to anyone 18 or older, and the doors open at 6 p.m.

PHOTO: Carlos Mencia

Fayetteville City Council elections have been non-partisan since the council-manager form of government was established in 1948. Regardless of the structure of local government, candidates for office are not identified by their political party affiliations. It’s common among municipal governments in North Carolina.

State law allows four different types of municipal election methods. These four methods are outlined by the North Carolina Legislature in Chapter 163, Article 24 of the state’s general statutes. A municipality’s chosen method of election is codified in its charter. The Fayetteville city charter provides that all nine members of council and the mayor be elected every two years.

The mayor is elected citywide. Council members are chosen in nine separate districts, which are comparable in size. At-large elections were eliminated in 2000 when a blue-ribbon commission recommended the current election method.

If there are more than two candidates for each district seat, there will be a primary election. The primary will trim the number of candidates to two per district, and they would advance to the general election in November. If needed, the primary would occur in October.

Some city council members want to change the terms of office to four years. Others do not. As a group, the body has done little to promote the proposition publicly. They scheduled a public hearing during the last meeting and only three people spoke. One speaker pointed out that two-year terms are the most constitutionally sound form of government.

Members of the North Carolina Senate and House of Representatives serve two-year terms. U.S congressmen also serve for two years. Critics of longer terms of office contend that voters have
short memories.

City council took no action when reminded by city attorney Karen McDonald that the agenda called only for a public hearing.

The mayor and city council are the “board of directors” for the municipal corporation. As such, they set policy, approve the financing of all city operations and enact ordinances, resolutions and
orders. Their responsibilities also include appointing the city manager, city attorney and members of various boards and commissions.

The city manager functions as the chief operating officer, administers the policy and decisions made by city council and oversees the day-to-day operations of city government. It is the city manager’s responsibility to ensure that all city services are delivered in an efficient and cost-effective manner and to provide vision and leadership to the city organization.

Members promoting a change propose that half the members serve four-year staggered terms with the others elected in opposite cycles two years later.

The cities of Durham and Wilmington have an interesting election pattern. Council members serve four-year terms. The mayor is elected every other year. Of the state’s largest cities, only Charlotte’s city council is politicly partisan, holding democratic and republican primaries with the winners meeting in the fall. Asheville, Greensboro and Winston-Salem elect their council members to four-year terms. Some are staggered. Durham voters hold all their members politically accountable at the same time.

Most municipal elections are held in odd years. A few municipalities elect their officials in evennumbered years. Although municipal elections are conducted by county boards of election, only
residents of the municipality are qualified to vote in city elections. These voters must have resided in the municipality for at least 30 days prior to the date of the election.

Fayetteville bus fares will not be going up in the next fiscal year. City council denied a request by the Fayetteville Area System of Transit and its citizen advisory committee, which recommended across-the-board increases for all fare schedules. Transit Director Randy Hume had proposed a single trip fare increase from $1.25 to $1.50. The popular day pass would have gone up from $3 to $4. Mayor Mitch Colvin noted the increases would have resulted in local fares being higher than other cities.

Hume said the fare increases would have generated $133,000, which the advisory committee indicated would have been applied to pay raises for bus operators. Officials said new bus operators earn $13 an hour. After six months, the hourly rate goes to $13.75. Hume told council that employee turnover, especially among bus drivers, is about 15 percent.

Council members Jim Arp and Tisha Waddell said FAST should find creative ways to market the transit system to increase ridership. “We need to get on the bus,” Waddell said. She said an “active and aggressive marketing campaign” is needed to encourage more people to ride the bus.

Councilwoman Kathy Jensen said her experience was that modern FAST buses are clean and safe. Several members pointed to the recent opening of the downtown transit center as a point of pride for the community.

Finding the new District 2 council member

City council heard from the nine citizens who would like to succeed Tyrone Williams as the District 2 council member. Williams resigned after being accused of attempted bribery in a local
downtown business venture. Council asked the candidates to make five-minute presentations during a May 29 televised council meeting. Candidates appeared in alphabetical order.

Former Fayetteville Police attorney Patricia Bradley told how she was raised in a poor neighborhood but won scholarships and grants and put herself through law school. “I am a fierce advocate
for under-resourced communities” she said. Bradley lives in Haymount, having practiced law for 23 years. A portion of Haymount is in District 2, which stretches from Cain Road near Eutaw Village through downtown to east Fayetteville.

Business owner Len Brown said he’s lived in the district since 1952. “I know District 2,” he said. He added that the community needs a full-time representative and claimed he could create more jobs than any of the candidates.

Vernell Cruz is an advocate for the disabled and said she has lived in Fayetteville only 6 years or so. She told council she didn’t expect to be appointed but appreciated the opportunity to appear.

Dan Culletin also lives in Haymount and is a known political entity in the district. He ran for the council seat in November and came in second. He applauded council for the way it handled the Williams situation. “Citizen engagement is the cornerstone of democracy,” he told council. He noted he is the only person running for the post who has already curried favor of District 2 residents.

Mary “Bunny” English lives on Hillsboro Street near downtown. She said she is a former broadcaster and a lifelong resident of Fayetteville.

William Gothard is a retired Army officer who manages a program at the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. He, too, is a Haymount resident and has served on the city’s Historic Resources Commission and Zoning Commission.

Phillip McCorquodale is vice president of operations for Phillips Towing Service and a former chairman of the Cumberland County Local Emergency Planning Committee.

George Mitchell is an Army veteran who is licensed in real estate and insurance.

Sharon Moyer is the community engagement manager for Partnership for Children and is a former executive director of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival.

Real estate broker George Turner has also volunteered and has served on various city and county awards.

Will indoor public pools become year-round facilities?

With a fourth public swimming pool in the offing, it may be that Fayetteville’s two newest pools will soon become year-round facilities. City council is considering purchasing portable enclosures for the pools at Westover and College Lakes Recreation Centers.

Parks and Recreation Director Michael Gibson said both pools were designed to accommodate tent-like inflatable domes supported by lightweight crossbars. Once installed, they could be raised and lowered with little effort to enclose the pools, making them useable in cold weather.

The city administration is developing guidelines and procedures to accommodate high school swim teams and other aquatic clubs that have expressed interest in utilizing the pools. Swim club supporters note that the only local indoor pool of adequate size is located at Fayetteville State University.

The hope is that Cumberland County Schools will be interested in joining with the city to finance the enclosures. Gibson estimates they would cost as much as $65,000 each. Additional annual operating expenses are estimated at $20,000 a year. The pools currently are open four months out of the year.

Career criminals imprisoned

Two Fayetteville men have been given lengthy federal prison terms as violent, repeat offenders. Dontrell Wright, 24, and Calvin Spearman, 23, both of Fayetteville, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan.

Wright will spend 19 years in prison. Spearman was sentenced to 14.5 years. Both men will also spend 5 years of supervised release.

Eastern North Carolina U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon Jr. said the defendants were named in a seven-count indictment in September of last year for robbing two local Subway restaurants and a
Pizza Hut in January 2017.

Wright and Spearman pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and aiding and abetting. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of North Carolina has implemented the Take Back North Carolina Initiative. The program emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with local law enforcement and district attorney’s offices to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking and crimes against law enforcement.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Hope Mills Police Department, the Fayetteville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Fayetteville man named VA Secretary

President Trump has named Robert Wilkie to be the nation’s next Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Wilkie, a Fayetteville native, has been acting VA secretary since late March.

His appointment is subject to Senate confirmation. Wilkie has also been serving in the Department of Defense as undersecretary for personnel and readiness. Prior to that, Wilkie was senior
advisor to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, and held numerous roles during the administration of President George W. Bush.

“Robert is one of the most honorable and decent human beings I’ve ever worked with,” said Tillis. “Anyone who knows him has seen his drive to serve his country and his passion for honoring our nation’s veterans and service members, qualities that will be tremendous assets at the VA.”

Wilkie replaces the previous VA secretary, David Shulkin.

The VA is the nation’s second-largest government agency, charged with caring for 9 million veterans and more than 1,700 government-run health care facilities.

On Wednesday, May 16, I was privileged to witness our teachers, who rarely organize or complain, some 25,000 plus, come to our General Assembly to voice their concerns over what they perceive is the Legislature’s lack of commitment to public education.

Their visit left me with a plethora of thoughts and emotions. These wonderful teachers truly care for our children. Yet, they are reluctantly leaving the profession. They are going to other states to work. The teachers who are staying are frustrated and are very, very tired. The vast majority of them work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. They feel unappreciated and perplexed.

Despite their obvious concerns and presence, teachers were not dignified by some. There were those of the Republican super majority who chose not to meet with teachers and instead kept their legislative doors closed, hiding behind posters claiming how they had raised teacher salaries over the past three sessions. This was upsetting to teachers who simply wished to voice their concerns and ask questions of their elected officials.

Their questions:

“Why will they not speak with us?”

“Who came up with that $50,000 average salary figure? I am not making that.” The average pay for Cumberland County teachers is $41,000, which is $10,000 less than the claimed state average.

As I met with teachers who were literally lined up from the mall to the legislative building, I stopped and made inquiry with groups of teachers from various counties. I asked each group how many of them worked more than one full-time job to make ends meet. More than half acknowledged that they worked multiple jobs, such as working in factories, clerking at convenience stores and delivering pizza. One teacher spoke of how humiliating it was to deliver pizza to his current students.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 16 percent of teachers nationwide have a second job. Currently, 53 percent of North Carolina teachers have a second job. This same percentage placed us as third in the nation in 2011, and there has been no improvement since that time. Once again, we are first in matters we should be last in and last in matters that we should be first in.

Our teachers also expressed concern that our rapid accumulation of knowledge is exceeding our schools’ resources to prepare their students for such a pace. Technology will eliminate 50 percent or more of the current jobs. That is the bad news we must prepare for, as it is coming. The good news is 60 percent of our children will have an opportunity to land a job not yet invented.

According to futurist Gerd Leonhard, our children must be able to learn quickly, think critically, be flexible and adapt as mankind’s advancements and accumulated knowledge will soon double
every 30 days! What used to take centuries is now covered in a matter of days. Our accumulated knowledge accelerates proportionate to its advancement.

What does this mean for the leaders of the free world? If we are honest, North Carolina is near the bottom in every major category of educational funding. There are myriad reasons why, but we
have allowed ourselves to slip so far toward the bottom that it is considered by many to be a reasonable goal for us to achieve middle-of-the-pack status. This is being touted as excellence in education by both the Republican super majority as well as our state’s absentee superintendent of public instruction. However, the last I checked, middle of the road or middle of the pack is just what it is, mediocre. Our teachers are not buying it.

For 12 years, we have allowed our educational system to spiral downward. Those who know, those who are in the trenches, and those who are the professionals felt compelled to assemble and do what heroes must do. They organized, marched and insisted on being heard – they raised their voices in respectful but strong unison. They are saying to us just as loud and just as bravely as they can, “Enough. The time is now to pursue excellence.”

What does a top five education system look like? House Bill 888 (Professional Teachers & Administrators Accountability Act) is a great start.

First, it is not just paying teachers a professional wage, a wage that is commensurate with the difficult job they do. It starts with excellent preschools, which are the trigger for young minds to read and to be curious. It emphasizes reading throughout the elementary years but specifically mastering all reading during the first three grades. It is a classroom stocked with great textbooks, labs and internet and technology resources. It is principals welltrained to lead their schools, support their teachers and have their backs. It is young teachers assigned to well-paid mentors who set high standards and demand the best from their young protégées.

It is also a system that teaches parents to partner with their children’s schools and with their children to ensure they are receiving the knowledge and all that they will need for the jobs of the next century.

The critics will say, “Throwing money at a problem will not fix it,” or, “We don’t need to be the best – maybe just be top of our region.” To those I say, why don’t we lift up excellence as a goal?
Being mediocre is all but un-American; being less than mediocre is unconscionable. The price for our state to be in the top five of the nation is $100 a year for each citizen presently living in the state. An alternative way of financing this plan is to return our taxes to the 2015 levels.

If we are reluctant to put this program into place statewide, then shame on us. We have tried everything else – charters, vouchers, special school districts, etc. What we have not tried is being the best. I am certainly open to trying this global approach in six to eight different school systems throughout the state to see if it works – but try we must. Imagine our state with the best schools in the nation!

The next war on democracy will be waged on the battlefield of the mind. We are blessed to have so many members of our armed services here in North Carolina. Can you image sending those
brave men and women to battle mediocrely trained and equipped? Would we dare scrimp on their resources? Like our military, our children’s education must equip them for the battle of who controls knowledge, and with it, immense power.

PHOTO: Photo by Jose Moreno on Unsplash.

Memorial Day in this household is something to pause on for me. It’s looking at the flag that we see every day on our entertainment center and really, really looking at it.

It’s thinking on my parents who were both killed in a military training exercise in 1981, the reason that this flag is in our house.

It’s looking at the dog tags on it and thinking about my grandfather and his service, but also the stories he told of the ones who didn’t come home. Or the other pilot that he wondered about for years and tried to find for almost the rest of his life, only to find out this man died weeks after the last time Grandpa saw him in another fight in World War II.

It’s thoughts of the crew at the Special Forces Association Chapter 1-18 and the stories they’ve told us around the bar there of their friends who didn’t make it home, in a mix of tears and some smiles to go with them. It’s watching my husband, Scott, try to figure out how to memorialize his friends who gave the ultimate sacrifice and then seeing him realize that he will never be able to truly do this as perfectly as he wants to.

It’s a lot of piled emotions in one day.

And it’s also me smiling as I put on my first dad’s Hawaii T-shirt and wear it for the day. Smirking that he wore his shirts so tight in the ’70s that in my time, I’d like to think this shirt was made more for my size. It’s Scott telling great stories of his friends that he’s eventually laughing about in the telling.

It’s having our flag out on the front porch and a “Freedom” banner in the garden at the farm.

We honor them all, but more importantly to me than anything else is the actual remembering. We keep talking about them all. And instead of solemnity all the time, we’re chuckling. And remembering the trueness of them in the imperfection.

This is how we do Memorial Day, and I’m at peace completely. To me, this is fitting.

PHOTO: The late Air Force Capt. Donald Fonke.

This column is dedicated to a very special guy who works somewhere in the food service industry. I speak of Leon, an unknown folk hero who deserves recognition. I have never met Leon, but I feel I know him anyway. Leon, like Johnny Yuma, is a rebel. Leon is unafraid to buck society’s norms. He’s the kind of guy who made America great once upon a time. Leon is a rugged individualist willing to stand up against the job-killing regulations of the Deep State, which we all know stifle American ingenuity. I shall always think of Leon any time I enter a restaurant’s restroom that has been clumsily and cruelly targeted by Big Brother.

You have seen the invasive tentacles of the Deep State yourself every time you go into a restaurant’s restroom. Ponder that dictatorial sign from the Health Department on the wall that states: “Each Employee’s Hands Must Be Washed Thoroughly, Using Soap, Warm Water and Sanitary Towel or Approved Hand-Drying Device Beginning Work and After Each Visit to the Toilet.”

On said sign at Leon’s workplace, someone had hand-written in ink, “Especially Leon.”

Now every time I see one of those signs, I think of Leon and laugh. The next time you enter a public restroom and see that sign, you, too, are very likely to think of Leon and laugh. But be careful; laughing in a public restroom can cause people to look at you funny if you are not talking on a blue tooth phone.

But seriously, folks, this handwritten addendum to the Deep State’s sign is a direct attack on Leon’s ability to decide for himself whether or not to spread germs in the manner that he deems fit. Why should Leon – or anyone else – have to wash his hands if he doesn’t want to?

Holy Typhoid Mary, the Deep State is once again interfering with our freedom. One can make the argument that Leon is facing a hostile work environment. Leon’s pain and mental anguish from this outrageous infringement on his freedom can only be eased by the application of a large money poultice, which can be secured after lengthy litigation and substantial attorney fees. I liken Leon and his heroic fight for the right to work with dirty hands to Mel Gibson in “Braveheart,” who shouts, “They may take our lives, but they can never take our freedom to handle food with germy hands!”

Regulations are bad. They stifle competition and keep Darwinism from evicting people who want to make dangerous choices from the gene pool. If some people want to eat Tide Pods, it is their God-given right to destroy their gastrointestinal systems.

The Deep State has no right to try to prevent the pursuit of foaming at the mouth or self-infliction of excruciating abdominal pain. The people have no Tide Pods? Let them eat at a restaurant where Leon works. The Tide Pod eaters may end up in the Saint Hubris Hospital for the Mentally and Gastronomically Challenged, but that is their right.

Just because you can do something, means you should do it. If, for example, say a future presidential candidate were to travel to a faraway capital of a communist country, and while there, decide that he wants to enjoy a flood of entertainment by, as Putin put it, “Girls of reduced social responsibility,” if he can afford to hire such entertainers, who are we to say that would be wrong? If it can be done. It should be done. As the King of Siam once said, “So let it be written. So let it be done.”

If we accept the proposition that the Deep State is out to ruin America by regulating such piddling things as hand washing, drilling for oil in national parks or supporting public education, then it’s time to end those things.

All those post-apocalyptic movies and TV programs that show people murdering and eating each other after society collapses are just scare tactics from Hollywood and its evil twin the Deep State. We don’t need no stinkin’ rules. Rules are for sissies who can’t take care of themselves and have to rely on the Nanny State to impose order. As Chairman Mao once said, “Political
power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” It’s every man for himself. That old saying about sinking ship protocol, “Women and children first,” is so yesterday.

If The Donald wants to make the Chinese company ZTE great again by saving 75,000 Chinese jobs after his lovely daughter Ivanka gets a bunch of new trademarks from the Chinese government to sell books and various housewares in China, what of it? The Constitution’s Emoluments clause is a relic of the past. Constitutional limits preventing a President from financially benefitting from his office by doing favors for foreign interests are just the Deep State’s way of messing with the entrepreneurial spirits of Oligarchs.

If Leon has dirty hands, he is not alone.

Rodney King’s plaintive words echoing across the decades are more on point than ever in the wake of our most recent national shouting match that leaves everyone sullied.

First, comedian Roseanne Barr referred to two educated, professional African-American women who served key roles in the Obama administration as “apes.” Within hours, another comedian, Samantha Bee, called the daughter of our current president a word that cannot be printed in a community publication, if anywhere.

How on God’s green earth did we get to this low point?

Years ago, when I was an adolescent, I – like most young people just beginning to feel their oats – tried out a few forbidden words, including some with meanings I did not fully comprehend. At  some point in my linguistic rebellion, my mother got wind of it. A grammarian, a lover of the English language and a proper Southern mother, she was appalled and, as we say in the South, “was having none of that.”

She and I had a sit-down on the topic of being kind and respectful to others and using the beautiful flexibility and versatility of the English language both properly and with care. I came away from our conversation understanding something I had not considered before … that unkind, uncivil, and “dirty” language reflects more on the speaker than it does on the intended target.

Name-calling is cheap and easy, revealing a mind that either does not know or is too lazy to search for a precise and insightful word or phrase that actually means something. Referring to others as “apes” or with a four-letter expletive is not creative. It reveals minds too challenged or too lazy or both to come up not with scattershot but with words that have express meaning.

Barr and Bee should be embarrassed not only for what they said about others but also by the sheer mediocrity of their choice of words.

Clearly, our nation is as divided politically, geographically and educationally as we have ever been during my adult lifetime. I would have a difficult time scanning my circle of family, friends and acquaintances without being aware of which side they take. In other words, no one is neutral. There are next to no true “independents.” Virtually all Americans are in one camp or another. We agree with Barr or we agree with Bee, though we might not have used their cheap words, and no end to our current vitriol is in sight.

Whatever else they may be, Barr and Bee symbolize two deeply disturbing aspects of American culture in 2018.

An alarming percentage of us no longer value civility in our everyday lives or in other people. Courtesy matters less and less, as a trip down any roadway in the country quickly demonstrates with fist-shakers and fingerwaggers abounding. We barely notice profanity in person or in various media. Instead of shocking us as it did a generation ago, it has become the wallpaper of daily living. Barr’s and Bee’s language is so common that this column – a week or so after their utterances – may well be the last you hear about either of them.

We also value language less. Finding and using the words that match what we want to express seems too hard for many of us, so we take the easy route – simple and overused words that have no clear meaning and “dirty” words so overused they have little meaning at all.

In my dreams, we would all take Rodney King’s heartfelt admonishment, “Can’t we all just get along?” to heart. We can agree to disagree as we obviously do, but we do not have to speak like Barr and Bee.

We could all learn from Winston Churchill as well. Churchill did not call names, but he was a world champion at the clever and targeted zinger. When Harry Truman remarked that Churchill’s replacement as prime minister “seems like a modest sort of fellow,” Churchill shot back, “He’s got a lot to be modest about.”

That puts all expletives in their proper uncreative and below average place.

The plotlines of William Shakespeare’s most famous works, like “Romeo and Juliet” and “Hamlet,” are almost universally known. Less common, though, is knowledge of how Shakespeare’s theaters actually operated and how his plays were performed in relation to their time. Sweet Tea Shakespeare, currently housed in the 1897 Poe House on Arsenal Avenue in downtown Fayetteville, puts on shows born from an organization that reflects Shakespeare’s ideologies and methods.

That doesn’t mean STS is not contemporary – in fact, quite the opposite. Jeremy Fiebig, STS artistic director and president, founded the company in 2012 after moving to Fayetteville to teach theater at Fayetteville State University. He brought with him experience as an assistant director, stage manager and understudy at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, three years’ experience teaching theater at Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa, and a love for the spirit of Shakespeare. That spirit, he said, is rooted in accessibility.

He explained that, “One hundred years before Shakespeare became Shakespeare,” the printing press created a fast-growing separation between those who could read and those who could not. “Shakespeare was writing pieces of literature that were read out loud,” Fiebig said. “He was playing with the language in the same way they were doing in print, but it was accessible to a whole group of people who maybe hadn’t been educated in the same way he had. That was the kindling that caused him to catch fire.”

STS performs more than just plays written by Shakespeare, but Fiebig said that, no matter the source material, “We try to be accessible to all audiences, regardless of background. That makes us do what we do in a certain style that’s... like a combination of musical theater and children’s theater.” At the same time, he said, those who know the original texts will still find STS shows true to the essence of the language.

Associate artistic directors Jessica Osnoe and Marie Lowe added that STS aims to inspire wonder and delight, not just in the stories but in demonstrating creative solutions for how to tell those stories with basic materials like Shakespeare would have used – fabric, light, wood, live music.

“Jeremy has one of the best visual senses of anyone I’ve ever worked with,” Lowe said. “So many things in Shakespearean plays... are difficult to produce: ships, castles, harpies, magic, storms. Jeremy finds truly delightful ways of invoking these things without actually building a castle or crafting a ship.

“That visual wonder … That’s one thing I think every audience comes away from our shows (talking about).”

This wonder is homegrown by committed company members performing a variety of roles, both administrative and performative, rather than a cast that rotates with every show. “We organize ourselves in the way medieval and renaissance companies would have,” Fiebig said. “That structure is responsible for turning us into what we are today.”

Osnoe explained that eight STS “masters” operate in a structure like a craftsman’s guild, each overseeing an “area of responsibility and apprenticeship with and for other company members known as ‘fellows’ and ‘wrights.’ The company comprises nearly 40 members, all with varying backgrounds, training and theatrical experience.”

This structure, she explained, allows different members to take turns hosting different responsibilities, contributing his or her strengths and in turn receiving feedback and guidance for growth that will benefit not just them but the entire company. Entrylevel company members – the “wrights” and “fellows” – have the opportunity to move up as they continue to dedicate their time and talents to the larger body.

Fiebig added that actors who do not wish to commit to company membership are still welcome to audition and that STS shows usually feature a mixture of company members and one-time performers.

STS also includes a youth company, Green Tea, which offers young adults ages 12-17 monthly classes and the chance to perform.

The next opportunities to see STS at work are “Pericles” and “The Tempest,” which are running in repertoire every other night June 5-21, except for June 18. These shows will conclude the company’s 2017-18 season.

Fiebig is directing both shows, with the help of codirector Jessica Schiermeister for “Pericles.” “Pericles” follows the adventures of the Prince of Tyre, a character Fiebig described as “a great, regular old hero, like Jesus or, you know, D’Artagnan. A guy to whom things happen. Like Harry Potter.”

Pericles, who will be played by Richard Adlam, charges around various locations in ancient Greece, experiencing shipwrecks, pirates, a murder plot, incest and romance – not necessarily in that order. With a 35-person cast playing a total of over 60 roles, it’s the largest number of people STS has ever involved in a production.

“The Tempest” tells the story of, in Fiebig’s words, “this guy who in part feels like he screwed up his life with his approach to the world. He’s a loner. He feels like the last 12-15 years of his life, he’s been suffering the consequences.”

The guy, Prospero, is a sorcerer and the rightful Duke of Milan. The consequences are that he’s been stranded on a desert island with his daughter, Miranda, for over a decade. The story that unfolds introduces us to, in addition to Prospero and Miranda, a captive spirit, a bitter monster, a scheming brother, a lovesick prince and a wise counselor, among others. “(The story) is ultimately about forgiveness,” Fiebig said. Prospero will be played by Ana Burby.

STS 2018-19 season

The new season kicks off in August and winds down next June. It will feature:

• “The Comedy of Errors,” a story about a set of twins separated and the sweet, confusing, satisfying chaos and reunions that follow.

• “OthelLIT,” a uniquely light-dark and boozy spoof on “Othello,” the tragic tale of love, deception and revenge.

• “Behold,” a folk Christmas cantata that joyfully blends the new and the traditional.

• “Sweeney Todd,” to be performed at Fayetteville Pie Company in the Westwood Shopping Center. The story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is deliciously adapted with rich, saucy danger, despair and … a cat.

• “Maid Marian,” a new adaptation of “Robin Hood” by Osnoe. Get to know a new voice in the narrative. “I think it will mostly be bittersweet,” Osnoe said.

• “Richard III” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in repertory. The first features one of Shakespeare’s most infamous villains and is a twisted tale of manipulation as a malcontent rises to power. Fiebig said it will feature electric guitars for a bluesy, rock feel. “The Merry Wives” is, in Fiebig’s words, “a great comedy while we’re still in the honeymoon phase of Megan and Harry,” referring to the recent royal wedding. “It has to do with who’s married to whom and who would like to be married whom.”

Fiebig reflected on his future goals for STS, saying, “We want to grow our relationship with Fayetteville and its businesses, organizations, families and individuals. I think for a city to work, actors and directors and designers are as critical as police and firemen and EMS workers. It’s so important to us that we aren’t just making art, but making art for here and making artists who will make a life here.”

For showtimes, tickets and more information, visit www.sweetteashakespeare.com.

As home to Fort Bragg and the 82nd Airborne Division, Fayetteville is nestled closer to thehearts of our Founding Fathers than most of America for one reason – the fine service members here who protect and defend our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They ensure that we can vote, we can dissent, we can speak our minds – even when maybe we shouldn’t.

Yet we do.

Just this past year, writers in Up & ComingWeekly made their voices heard regarding immigration, kneeling during the national anthem, and more recently, local politics in both Hope Mills and Fayetteville. We received pushback on all of it. And we were happy to read and print those responses, even when we didn’t agree.

Disagreements and pettiness happen daily on a national level with presidential tweets that make headlines and talking heads and celebrities who use their positions as a platform to further their political or personal agendas. Two recent cases that come to mind are Roseanne Barr and Samantha Bee. ABC canceled Barr’s TV show for inappropriate remarks she made about President Obama’s former democratic senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett. Meanwhile, on her show “Full Frontal,” Samantha Bee verbally assaulted President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka (a Republican staffer), by referring to her as a “feckless C**t.”

Did TBS’ executives admonish Bee’s behavior? Did they cancel her comedy show? They did not. Imagine the national outrage if Bee said that about Michelle Obama, or worse, her daughters Malia and Sasha.

Bee’s show was videotaped. This meant that TBS had the opportunity to edit out the offensive insult before it aired nationally. Those with the authority to make that decision chose not to.

Even if the performance was a live broadcast, a standard 10-second broadcasting delay allows for bleeping out vulgarities.

By their actions, these two companies made bold statements about where they stand. Undoubtedly, many agree with them. Others do not. But no one went to jail, mysteriously disappeared or lost their job. Because this is still America. That’s part of the glory of our country. We can speak our minds without fear of retribution from our government and with the expectation of being heard.

As part of this military community, we have lost far too many service members through the years because they answered the call to serve and were sent to handle America’s business in faraway places on our behalf. With Memorial Day in the rearview mirror, and on the heels of heartfelt ceremonies where we honored our friends for their sacrifice and quietly vowed to look after their widows and orphans, the name-calling and hate couldn’t feel more misguided or counterproductive.

We are lucky to be Americans, and we should definitely use our First Amendment right to voice our opinions, to disagree, to be true to ourselves. When passions run high, it is easy to forget the cost of our freedom. And that comes with consequences – for people and organizations. We both thank you for reading Up &Coming Weekly.

Nyielah Nick

Seventy-First

• Baseball/Track

• Sophomore

Nick has a 3.75 gradepoint average. In addition to basketball and track, she is active in ROTC and Find a Friend.

Zaryen McGilvary

Seventy-First

• Indoor and outdoor track

• Sophomore

McGilvary has a 3.6 grade point average. In addition to track, McGilvary is active in ROTC.