Fayetteville is filled with gems and secrets and history... lots of history. The Woman’s Club of Fayetteville oversees three especially significant pieces of Fayetteville’s history at Heritage Square. On Thursday, Oct. 13, the club is set to host a Wine, Brews and Silent Auction. 

“The proceeds from this event are earmarked for the restoration of Heritage Square. We don’t get any money from the state or federal government, but it is important for people to know that every dollar that comes in is used to keep the property up.” said Woman’s Club President Elaine Kennebeck. This particular project is an undertaking that will benefit local school children. The Woman’s Club is looking to expand its educational outreach efforts to area schools. “We are in the process of framing a lot of our archives. We have had them for years and no one gets to see them. We have a closet full of old dresses and uniforms that students love to see. We have an old rope bed. We have all these things for school kids to see on the tour of the property. We hope to see more field trips so we can share this history with students.”  

The evening’s events include an assortment of top-shelf wines and beers, food and appetizers, live music and a silent auction. “We are serving high end beverages with delicious food,” said Kennebck. “We will have a string trio for the first hour of the event followed by a jazz trio. We have more than 100 items for auction. We have all kinds of gift certificates, a TV, handbags, entertainment packages — there really is something for everyone.

At 225 Dicks Street, the Sandford House, Oval Ballroom and Baker-Haigh-Nimocks House make up Heritage Square. These structures are a significant part of Fayetteville’s past and the Woman’s Club is dedicated to preserving their history and sharing their story.

Mark Russell was the original owner of the land that is now Heritage Square. Duncan McLeran purchased the property in 1797. It is McLeran who is credited with building the Sandford house and the Nimocks house. The property changed hands in 1804 when McLeran sold the house to John Adam and his wife, Sarah, and again in 1820 when Sara Adam sold the house to John Cameron. Cameron sold the house to the United States Bank. John Sandford worked as the cashier at the bank where he also lived on the second floor. He purchased the house in 1839. The house changed hands a few more times before the Woman’s Club purchased it in 1945. 

When Margaret Halliday married John Sandford in 1830, the family had a ballroom built for the reception and ball that would follow the ceremony. One hundred years later, it had become the Colonial Inn, a popular tourist stop during the depression. Visitors enjoyed fine southern fare and enjoyed the history of the building. Once the Woman’s Club purchased it in 1956, the group moved the ballroom to its current location on Heritage Square. The Oval Ballroom is an elongated octagon in form on the outside and a perfect oval on the inside. Because of its unique design, the room is registered in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., and featured in the book Early Architecture of North Carolina by Johnson and Waterman.

In 1818, James Baker bought some land and a house from Duncan McLeran. He moved his young bride in and they lived there until 1849 when he sold it. By 1852, Charles T. Haigh owned the house, which he gifted to his daughter-in-law and her husband, William. In 1893, after William died the house was sold to Quincy K. Nimocks. The Woman’s Club purchased the house in 1966.

Tickets are $40 per person, $75 per couple. The events runs from 6-9 p.m. For tickets and information, call 483-6009.

Cumberland County’s Veterans Treatment Court is one of 463 courts nationwide that offer mandatory rehabilitation and medical treatment for veterans arrested for certain misdemeanors and non-violent felonies. Last week, the U.S. Justice Department pledged to support more courts in this growing system, awarding more than $4 million to 13 state and local jurisdictions to develop their own programs. North Carolina is not among them this year. Some of the programs will likely be patterned after the one started nearly two years ago by District Court Judge Lou Olivera. It was launched with a grant from the Governor’s Crime Commission. 

The Veterans Treatment Court is an alternative sentencing program designed to address the specific needs of veterans “who have returned from combat with injuries that are not visible,” said Olivera. Veterans are able to take part in a holistic program that addresses mental health and substance abuse issues, housing, employment, education and healthcare. The veteran must attend counseling, community support meetings, participate in a stringent drug testing program and perform community service. At the end of the year-long program, successful graduates may be eligible to have his or her original charges dropped or expunged.

Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Bill Baer said that with one in six Iraq or Afghanistan veterans abusing alcohol or drugs — a situation that can contribute to arrest — the nation is obligated to help them productively reintegrate into society. 

“Our military veterans risk life and limb for their country,” Baer said. “We owe our very best to help those who struggle with substance abuse,” he added. Baer spoke during a forum hosted by the justice department to mark Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week. The abuse of opiates, especially heroin, is a national epidemic especially prevalent in Greater Fayetteville. Five years ago, Cape Fear Valley Medical Center recorded just one heroin overdose. Through Oct. 7 of this year, the number of overdose reports had grown to 96. 

Fred Wells Brason II, director of North Carolina’s Project Lazarus, says the heroin problem in Fayetteville is worse than other areas of the state because of the presence of generally young, transient, lower income military men and women. They are more susceptible to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems that can lead to drug and alcohol abuse. The good news is that according to data provided by Justice for Vets — an advocacy group that provides training for court staff  — two-thirds of veterans who go through the Veterans Treatment Court system successfully complete the program. The system has proven so successful that the VA has mandated that every VA medical center have a veterans’ justice outreach specialist to provide legal assistance to veterans in their region. While veterans court advocates had sought $15 million for programs nationwide in 2016, they said any amount helps safeguard against veterans winding up in the prison system. 

“I won’t let them fail,” said Judge Olivera who is himself a veteran. “I’ll help them find their way again,” he promised.

Following in the footsteps of retired Fayetteville Police Chief Harold Medlock would be a daunting task for most. Anthony Kelly accepts the challenge saying “Someone’s got to do it.” Kelly has been an assistant police chief since January of 2015. Until this week, he commanded the FPD’s uniformed patrol bureau, the largest division in the department. City Manager Doug Hewett named Kelly Interim Chief a week or so before Medlock stepped down. “I identified him as a true leader and he’s proven my decision was correct,” Medlock said. 

Kelly graduated from Fayetteville State University while living at home on Amanda Circle with his mom and dad. His first love was the military, but he was afraid (and still is) of flying. He went to work part time at Food Lion, and then moved to Charlotte to join the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Department. He graduated from the Basic Law Enforcement Training course in December of 1994, and the following spring decided to move back home. Kelly applied for a job with the Fayetteville Police Department. He’s 48 now and has been in law enforcement for 22 years. He says the last two years were a turning point for him and the more than 400 officers of the department. 

“Chief Medlock allowed us to think big, and when we thought big, good things happened,” he said.

Medlock brought big-city experience and police training to Fayetteville from Charlotte where he served as a deputy chief. Kelly says officers began getting anti-bias training during those two years. Police officers in this city, he says, are constantly exposed to young black men in hopeless, negative situations. “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change,” he said. 

These days, he says, a police officer is one bad day away from having a bad career, which is why he reinforces to the men and women of the FPD that proper training is the key “to being good police.” One of the most important elements of Fayetteville Police training in dealing with street crime, he says, is what’s called “cover and concealment.” De-escalation of a potentially violent situation begins with the cop taking himself out of the equation. Instead of approaching a volatile situation, Fayetteville police officers are trained, when possible, to take cover and conceal themselves in such a way that they can speak with others involved while not getting involved themselves. It’s called situational policing.

Kelly told of police officers who responded to a 911 call a couple of weeks ago about a woman in her yard brandishing a shotgun. She apparently suffered from mental health issues. First officers on the scene concealed themselves where she couldn’t see them, but they were close enough to speak with her. A police sergeant noticed there was a lock installed in the shotgun trigger housing. He engaged her in conversation, and she told him about her grandchildren. The sergeant said he hoped to have grandkids one day and asked her the names of hers. With that, the woman dropped the weapon and began crying. “That situation could have gone horribly wrong had it not been for our training,” Kelly said.

Kelly comes from a middle class family, and credits his parents for the person he has become. He says he never got that warning from his mother and father that many African-American youngsters do about how to behave if stopped by the police. 

“My mom and dad taught me how to act, period,” he said. “I can’t stand it when people tell me they were taught how to act during a traffic stop.” 

Kelly reflected on an incident when he was a child that he’s never forgotten. He was in the fifth grade and got five Fs on his report card. At a parent/teacher conference his teacher told his mom of the bad grades, and that he seemed more interested in girls. “I looked at my mom and there was a tear coming down her cheek,” he said. “When we got home with my mom not saying one word, she grabbed a belt and whooped my behind.” Kelly said she grounded him for one year; he couldn’t leave the house for a year. His grades improved, he said. “I served nine months of that sentence when my dad asked mom to let me off.” 

Kelly speaks of how fortunate he was to come from a two-parent household. He’s just as proud to have come up through the ranks of the Fayetteville Police Department and to have served with Harold Medlock. 

“We’re setting the police standard in this state and perhaps the country for how to have relationships in the communities we serve,” said Kelly.             

Seventeen days, not seven — The North Carolina General Assembly reduced early voting opportunities a few years ago to only seven days. But when the federal courts got involved, one-stop voting rules were changed. The Republican-dominated Cumberland County Board of Elections declined to implement changes ordered by the court, so the State Elections Board did so. Now, North Carolina voters have 17 days to vote early this year. There are 10 locations to cast early ballots. 

Early voting begins on Thursday, Oct. 20 and continues through Saturday, Nov. 5 and includes two Sunday afternoons. There are 10 early voting locations in Cumberland County. They are the Board of Elections Office on Fountainhead Lane in Downtown Fayetteville, Kiwanis Recreation Center on Devers Street, Smith Recreation Center on Slater Avenue, North Regional Library on McArthur Road, East Regional Library on Clinton Road, Cliffdale Recreation Center on Cliffdale Road, Grays Creek Recreation Center on School Road, Hope Mills Recreation Center on Rockfish Road, E.E. Miller Recreation Center on Rim Road and Spring Lake Community Center on Ruth Street. For hours, contact the Cumberland County Elections Office at 678-7733. It should be noted that early voting localities are not necessarily the location of election day voter precincts. If you do not know where your election day polling place is, you can use www.ncsbe.gov to find your voting precinct and location.

Voters are no longer required to present photo identification at the polls. However, certain first-time voters must provide proof of identity if they did not do so when they registered. Individuals may once again register and vote on the same day during the early voting period. Curbside voting is available at all voting locations for disabled individuals. The elections office also provides assistance to persons in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other care facilities. Again, the local board of elections should be contacted.

Of all the states, the best early voting statistics are available for North Carolina, where absentee voting by mail began on Sept. 9. Requests for absentee ballots by registered Democrats and unaffiliated registered voters are running ahead of 2012, for the same number of days prior to the election. Requests by registered Republicans are down. Given that Mitt Romney beat Barack Obama by two percentage points, the early voting statistics appear to confirm polling averages which show a narrow lead for Hillary Clinton. According to the U.S. Constitution, the 2010 Census Reapportionment provides that North Carolina will have 15 electoral votes through the 2020 presidential election. North Carolina, which was one of the original 13 colonies, entered the Union in November 1789. Like many other southern states, it voted almost exclusively Democratic from 1876 through 1964. Tar Heel voters flipped and began voting Republican in 1968. The shift was largely in response to white conservative voter uneasiness with Civil Rights legislation passed in the mid-1960s. In 2008, Barack Obama reversed the trend of Republican dominance in North Carolina barely defeating John McCain by about 14,000 votes out of 4.3 million cast. It was the second closest race of the 2008 election (behind Missouri). In 2012, North Carolina was again the second closest race (this time behind Florida) as the state flipped back to Republican and Mitt Romney beat Obama by about 2 percent. This year, the Tar Heel State is a toss-up battleground, given the flip flops of the last two Presidential elections. 

In a few days, Doug Hewett will officially be named city manager. City Council decided during an evaluation session that he deserved to be elevated from his temporary position after five months on the job. Council is working out details of his employment including salary, benefits, severance and term of office. Council is considering offering Hewett a one-year contract. It’s not unusual for government executives to have renewable contracts, although it’s a first for Fayetteville. 

“Hewett had a very positive performance evaluation…and we have unanimously decided to ask (him) to accept the position of city manager,” said Mayor Nat Robertson. 

Hewett didn’t hesitate to accept the offer.  During the personnel performance closed session, City Attorney Karen MacDonald received a ‘satisfactory’ rating according to Robertson. That’s a midrange evaluation in a five step range.

 

 

Free Smoke Alarms Distributed

Every night in Eastern North Carolina about five house fires occur, leaving families helpless, confused and alone. In Cumberland County, Highlands Chapter Red Cross volunteers respond routinely to local house fires. Last month, nearly 300 Red Cross volunteers from 27 groups, including Fayetteville Firefighters, gathered in Fayetteville to install more than 1,000 smoke alarms in homes of military members and their neighbors. 

“Brave men and woman of our military work every day to make sure we are safe in our homes,” said Barry Porter, chief executive officer, of the Red Cross in Eastern N.C. “We want to return the favor and protect them in their own homes with new smoke alarms.” 

Four volunteers visited the home of Cory Hall, an active-duty military member and former firefighter. They installed four smoke alarms and tested his existing alarms. Hall said he feels confident his family is safe in their home should a fire start. 

“Over 500 households were reached in the Bonnie Doone, Shaw Heights, and Montclair Communities,” according to Fayetteville Fire Chief Ben Major.

 

Gilbert Theater’s New Season

Fayetteville’s Gilbert Theater in the former City Hall Building on Bow Street announces two projects thanks to a pair of grants from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County says Robyne Parrish, artistic director. “This year, in addition to our usual five-show main stage season, we will continue our second stage this year,” she added. It’s called the ‘next stage’ and will feature six one-act plays and two glee club shows. “The Arts Council is proud to partner with Gilbert Theater in support of their 2016-2017 season,” says Executive Director Deborah Martin Mintz. The Arts Council’s programs and services are funded in part by contributions from businesses and individuals and through grants from the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County and the North Carolina Arts Council.

 

 

Cumberland County Master Gardener Volunteer Training

Cumberland County’s Extension Master Gardeners Volunteer program is offering a training class for local residents interested in increasing their gardening knowledge and volunteering in the community. The extension service is providing advanced notice. The classes aren’t scheduled to begin until Jan. 12, 2017. They’ll be held weekly through May 4 in the Cooperative Extension Auditorium at 301 East Mountain Drive in Fayetteville. There is a fee to cover training supplies and the Extension Master Gardener Training Manual. Applications are now being accepted and can be obtained by calling 910-321-6405. Applications may also be found online at the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension Service website (https://cumberland.ces.ncsu.edu). The deadline for accepting applications is Nov. 18. 

 

Clarification

A News Digest article in last week’s edition misstated that Fayetteville Regional Airport has been awarded three $10 million dollar grants to renovate the 47-year-old terminal. Actually, it’s receiving two such grants. Other federal funds include $6 million in entitlement funding and $2.8 million in passenger facility charges. A local airport share of between $5 and $7 million rounds out the revenue. Total funding for design and construction is estimated at $34 to $36 million, according to Airport Manager Brad Whited.

 

I spend substantial time in the Fayetteville Community Garden. This is because I grow vegetables in a plot there, along with volunteering to help maintain and beautify the garden. This five-acre, 94-plot garden is proving to be a microcosm of what I see in our country from a distance. That is, I see media reports and hear accounts from other people that trouble me as to what is happening in America. In the garden I see close-up incidents that corroborate what troubles me about the larger society.

Among these corroborated concerns is the course America seems to be taking relative to redistribution of wealth. I agree with Charles Payne, a Fox Business Network contributor and host of Fox’s Making Money with Charles Payne. I understand Payne to say there are many people who believe America has peaked in ability to expand the economy and provide opportunity for financial advancement; consequently, there must be redistribution of wealth. This assessment is even more troubling when one considers the primary approach being used by those who so strongly pursue redistribution of wealth. I contend what they are doing is summarized well in an article titled “Work Ethic Definition & Elements of a Strong Work Ethic” at www.cleverism.com when speaking of socialism:

“Traditionally, work ethic has been understood as a value based on hard work and diligence. Capitalists, for example, believe in the necessity of working hard and in consequential ability of enhancing one’s character. Socialists suggest that a concept of ‘hard work’ is deluding the working class into being loyal workers of the elite; and working hard, in itself, is not necessarily an honorable thing, but simply a way to create greater wealth for those at the summit of the economic pyramid.”

Given that the thinking in the second half of the quote above is prevailing in America, the result is a multitude of entitlement programs where citizens receive benefits without having invested anything. Federalsafetynet.com states, “Welfare Programs include 13 separate programs to fight poverty (…) and the Medicaid Program which provides healthcare to low-income Americans. Welfare Programs and Medicaid are non-contributory, meaning recipients are entitled to the benefits even though they have made no contributions to the programs through taxes.” 

The pressing question is: Are these anti-poverty programs effective? A paper by Robert Rector and Jennifer A. Marshall titled “The Unfinished Work of Welfare Reform” states that when measuring poverty, the U.S. Census Bureau “omits more than $800 billion in means-tested government cash, food, housing and medical benefits; it takes into account only what Americans earn on their own, without government assistance.” Referring to that approach, Rector and Marshall give this assessment:

“And what does this measure tell us? That there has been essentially no improvement in self-sufficiency since the War on Poverty began more than four decades ago. In 1966, the share of the population living below the poverty (self-sufficiency) threshold was 14.7 percent; by 2011, it had actually risen — to 15.0 percent. While the material living conditions of less affluent Americans may have improved over time, when it comes to President Johnson’s original goal — reducing the “causes” rather than the mere “consequences” of poverty — our welfare policies have failed. Many parts of the population are in fact now less capable of self-sufficiency than they were when the War on Poverty began.”

Also in this wealth redistribution effort that I see from a distance is welfare reform from 1996, during the presidency of Bill Clinton. Two bits of information from the paper by Rector and Marshall referenced above. First, focus on the work requirement of that reform:

“For all the hype about the 1996 law, it dramatically reformed only one of nearly 80 federal means-tested programs providing aid to the poor. The reform replaced the largest cash-welfare program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, with a new program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which included work requirements and a time limit on aid — all funded through block grants to states.”

Then on the impact of this reform:

“The immediate results clearly vindicated the conservative hypothesis about ‘workfare,’ as droves of former (and potential future) welfare dependents became productive employees in the private economy. So successful was the policy overhaul, in fact, that many conservatives concluded that their work on welfare was finished. But the reactions of both sides were overwrought: Liberals’ dire predictions that millions more Americans would fall into poverty and that social dysfunction would increase proved mistaken; conservative workfare, meanwhile, has become the victim of its own success.”

Then Robert Rector writes in a 2012 article titled “How Obama Has Gutted Welfare Reform:” 

“But the Obama administration has jettisoned the law’s work requirements, asserting that, in the future, no state will be required to follow them. In place of the legislated work requirements, the administration has stated, it will unilaterally design its own ‘work’ systems without Congressional involvement or consent. Any state will be free to follow the new Obama requirements ‘in lieu of’ the written statute.” 

The cost of existing entitlement programs is tremendous and growing. Many politicians promise even more programs and intend to pay for them by raising taxes on the wealthy.

To this point is what I see from media and research. This can be summarized as America rapidly moving from espousing hard work and seeking opportunity for advancement to a nation discouraging hard work; fermenting disdain by citizens of low income toward the wealthy; and promoting an entitlement mentality that causes far too many people to believe society is to provide for them “from the cradle to the grave.”

Now a couple of experiences from the community garden that corroborate this summary assessment of what I believe America is fast becoming. I was working in my garden plot when a lady rode up in a car driven by another lady. The passenger gets out, approaches me and explains that she needs food for her family because her Food Stamps will not come for another two days. I tell her there is nothing in my garden, but maybe two men sitting near their plots might help. She talks with them and comes back mumbling about how they would not help her. I asked if she realized she could rent a plot for just $25 per year and grow vegetables. Her response was she had three kids, was a single parent, and did not have $25 to rent a plot. In a huff, she got in the car and left.

My thought was, by gardening, she could not only grow food, but have those three children help and, in the process, learn the value and necessity of work. This won’t happen because she has come under the new American spell that others are to provide for her. Sadly, by observing their mother, those three children will likely take on the same attitude. 

Another day, a lady drives up in a nice SUV, gets out, and starts asking me to name various vegetables in several plots. I begin answering her questions, but then asked if she has a plot. She says, “No,” but she wants to pick some vegetables. I explain I can’t give her permission to take vegetables from plots that belong to other people. She responds, “This is a community garden.” I explained to her that “community garden” does not mean that you take what you want without permission and I ask her to leave. She moves to leave and I walk away, but look back. The lady is in a plot picking tomatoes. I yell, “Ma’am, please stop taking vegetables and leave the garden.” She gets in that nice SUV and kicks up dust on the garden road as she leaves, obviously angry. By the way, this lady had a young girl with her who looked to be about 12-years-old.

I hold here is another person who not only feels entitled, but also disrespects the rights and property of others. This is an attitude born of, and nurtured by, all of what is described in the opening of this column. Furthermore, given a choice of the woman she rode up with, or me, as a role model, that young lady will likely choose the woman and take on her attitude to the detriment of herself and American society.

If not already done, I encourage you to read this column slowly and thoroughly. Then determine what you might do to help turn America back to the course where hard work, individual responsibility and respect for others prevail.

All the markers tell us that we women have indeed “come a long way, baby.” For the first time, a woman is running for President of the United States on a major party ticket, and a North Carolina woman is poised to unseat an incumbent United States Senator. Women lead major corporations, direct films and television programs and blossom in entrepreneurial startups. More and more of us are stunningly successful, and the rest of us of all ages are watching and taking notes.

It is all good, but there is no question we are also conflicted.

Deborah Spar, president of Barnard, the women’s college associated with Columbia University in New York, wrote a column last month about women “of a certain age” fighting back through plastic surgery. Cosmetic plastic surgery is an option for relatively few of us because it is expensive and rarely covered by insurance, but for those so inclined and willing and able to pony up, Spar’s column is making big waves among both the pros and cons of cosmetic surgery. She lays out the dilemma this way: “Like most women in my liberal, feminist-leaning, highly educated peer group, I am ideologically opposed to intervening in such a natural and inevitable process as simply getting on in years.

 “But like many of my peers, I am also a two-faced hypocrite, at least when it comes to parts of myself that may well benefit from a twinge of not-quite-so-natural intervention. Almost every woman I know colors her hair in some way, whether from a box or at a pricey salon….Does a little face-life along the way constitute treason, or just a reasonable accommodation. I don’t know.

 “What I do know, though, is that for women in certain professional or social circles, the bar of normal keeps going up. There are virtually no wrinkles on Hollywood stars or on Broadway actors; ditto for female entrepreneurs or women in the news media…women in Congress and even fewer on Wall Street….Just saying no — to chemical, peels, lasers and liposuction — becomes harder under these circumstances, even if no one wants to admit that’s the case….”What is more, as with so many issues that surround women and beauty and aging and sex, there is a paradox today that seems to strike women of the postfeminist generation with a particular force.”

Weighing in about women on another front is Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and author of Lean In, her bestseller encouraging women to tackle both our public and private lives with gusto, energy, and enthusiasm. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Sandberg acknowledges pushback against women’s advancement in the workplace, with words like “bossy” and “aggressive” tossed around when women ask for responsibility and promotion. She also points to an annual study from Women in the Workplace, which found that women are still a century away from gender equality in corporate suites.

Not surprisingly, Sandberg urges women to keep negotiating and pushing —t o keep “leaning in,” and to do so until the day that it’s seen as perfectly normal, and even expected, for women to ask for more.”

Says Sandberg, “These things matter — not just for women, but for all of us. Research shows that gender equality is as good for business as it is for individuals. Diverse teams and companies produce better results and higher revenue and profits, which lead to more opportunity for everyone, not just women.”

Sandberg and Spar address different aspects of the nearly two-century long struggle for gender equality in our country, and both acknowledge that women of all ages have work to do both in the workplace and in the many ways we see ourselves and allow others to see and judge us. They — and I —would love all of us, both men and women, to be aware of stereotyping of women in daily conversation, including some of the conversation in this year’s political campaigning.

Speaking of cosmetic surgery, Spar says this, and her words go to the heart of how women both perceive ourselves and the costs of advancing in our culture:  “…an entire generation of feminist and post-feminist women who stormed the barricades of the American workforce, planned their reproductive destinies, and even got their partners to fold the laundry occasionally, are now engaged in an odd sort of collective self-delusion. Everyone….is doing it, and very few are confessing, a fact that in some ways is more disturbing than the surge in the surgeries themselves. Because not only are we nipping, suctioning and using hormones, but we’re also feeling embarrassed about it, and lying. Neither of which was really the point of women’s liberation.”

Hmmmm…..

Is Fayetteville finally coming of age? That is the $64 million dollar question. On the surface, it sure looks like it. But, then again, we have all been fooled in the past. Let’s look at the list: Docs, Festival Park building, J. P. Riddle Stadium, the Crown Coliseum, the County Jail and several times just on the Prince Charles Hotel. Not to mention the most recent ill-fated decision by our Fayetteville City Council  to allow an auto parts junk yard to mar a great opportunity we had  to develop our Cape Fear River resources. What were they thinking? 

Only time will tell what our future holds. Fortunately, at least for now, the word on the street is actually pretty positive and enthusiastic about all the new developments taking place in our city. It’s pretty obvious Fayetteville residents want positive change and want our community to step up. They are looking forward to the quality-of-life venues promised by our local government officials. 

Taxpayers are waiting in anticipation to see what they are going to get for the money they approved and are being assessed for in the recent bond referendum. More importantly, they are waiting to see if our local elected officials have the talent, judgment or intestinal fortitude to get the job done. No doubt, the people’s sentiments are being acknowledged loud and clear: passage of the $30 million Parks and Rec bond, approval by the City Council of the $33 million baseball stadium, creation of a downtown Arts & Entertainment District with the prospect of attracting $60 million of additional private investment and development for our inter city. 

This is all good stuff, but, can it be managed? That’s the ever-recurring question on the street. Fueling this skepticism and damping down the enthusiasm are Fayetteville’s failed track record in real estate development, the recent lost opportunity to reverse the decision to allow a junk yard on the Cape Fear River, a weak City/County economic development organization, a weak and deteriorating Chamber of Commerce and, most recently, talk about having Fayetteville’s Class A Advanced baseball team start its debut season playing baseball in another county!

Our new downtown stadium won’t be ready for occupancy until 2019, so our new Fayetteville team would have to find another place to play ball. Moving it outside of Fayetteville for this period of time will take away the excitement and every initial opportunity to market, advertise, promote and brand this new baseball team as Fayetteville’s own. 

Building brand loyalty is extremely important to a product’s success. Getting the Fayetteville community to support a team playing ball at Campbell University or anywhere other than in Cumberland County is virtually impossible. Serious thought needs to be given to this idea. The city will only get one chance at getting this right. Once they start playing baseball outside of Cumberland County, “the shine will be off the apple” and they will no longer be Fayetteville’s team. This will make getting corporate support more difficult and establishing brand loyalty almost impossible.

These projects have our total support. These concerns are what people are talking to us about. They should not be interpreted as negative. 

Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

 

The Indigo Moon Film Festival will bring 38 independent films to Downtown Fayetteville Oct. 7-9, featuring the work of students and seasoned professionals alike. The films were submitted from around the world, including some from local filmmakers.

“If you love films, I hope you will make your way here,” Pat Wright said.  

Wright and Jan Johnson, founders of local non-profit GroundSwell Pictures, organized the event. Both Johnson and Wright are award-winning producers/directors/writers. After years of attending other film festivals, the pair decided to organize a festival locally.

“We do have a thriving arts community here,” Johnson said. “But film is not well-represented to enhance our cultural arts options.”

The festival is the first of its kind in Fayetteville, Wright said.  

“There will be films from around the world,” Wright added, noting that films were submitted from the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, India and Hong Kong. “Through these films we get to see other cultures, feel empathy and understanding.”

At about a dozen of the screenings, the actual filmmakers will be on site to discuss the film afterward, Johnson said.  

The pair explained how they came up with the name of the festival.

“Independent films are called ‘indie,’” Johnson said. 

“You have an opportunity like this once in a blue moon,” Wright added.  “This is our chance, our once in a blue moon.”

No strangers to taking chances or filmmaking, Wright and Johnson created GroundSwell in 2014 to engage and inspire others by making films, teaching filmmaking, showing films and supporting other filmmakers.  Their own films tackle tough topics such as child pornography, the effects of desegregation and recovery efforts in Haiti after an earthquake killed more than 230,000 people in 2010. Wright and Johnson say they are committed to educating the public and creating a groundswell of constructive change.

While some of the films shown during the festival will cover serious topics such as genocide in Iraq, suicide and domestic violence, there are also lighter and humorous topics — the story of a 100-year-old artist, the happenings at a hotdog stand, nuns cited with “radical feminism” by the Vatican.

First-time festival-goers should visit the website www.indigomoonfilmfestival.com  to review descriptions of the films and watch the trailers. With 38 titles and a wide variety of genres, there is something for every viewer. The selections range from two-minute short films to two-hour features.  

Not only for those who enjoy viewing films, the IMFF is a competition. There are six cash awards and five awards voted on by the audience. The categories are: narrative feature, narrative short, documentary feature, documentary short, animation and student film. All films will be shown over three days in four venues Downtown: the Cameo Art House Theatre, the Arts Council, Hay Street United Methodist Church and the Cumberland County Headquarters Library.

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise will open the festival on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Cameo, Wright said. The film, released earlier this year, is a documentary about poet, author and performer Dr. Maya Angelou. It reflects on how the events of history, culture and the arts shaped Angelou’s life and how she inspired others through her autobiographical literature and activism.

The film has been on the independent film festival circuit, Johnson said, explaining it is a rare opportunity to be able to show it in Fayetteville.  

“We all kind of embraced her as our own,” Johnson said, “We thought we knew her.” 

Before her death in 2014, Angelou taught at Wake Forest University and made her home in Winston-Salem. The documentary includes clips from older interviews as well as her final interviews, and goes into parts of her life most are unfamiliar with, Johnson said. 

After seeing the film about Angelou’s life, “You can’t help but feel inspired and motivated,” Wright said.

On Sunday, the final day of the festival, an awards banquet BBQ is slated at SkyView on Hay Street at noon with an encore showing of the winning films at 1:30 at the Cameo.

There are several options for film-goers. To attend the opening night film and party at SkyView, tickets are $25. Tickets are $15 to attend the awards banquet. Individual tickets for films are $10. Tickets to see blocks of the short films, which range from two to 30 minutes each, are $10. You can also purchase a VIP pass for $80-$100 which includes the opening night film and party, the awards banquet, tickets for up to five film blocks, an IMFF festival tote and first admittance to screenings. There are discounts for students, seniors, military and Moon Shadow Film Society members.

There is limited seating in all venues, and you must pre-select your choice of films when you purchase tickets/passes to guarantee your seat.  You can purchase passes on the website or go to the Rainbow Room on Hay Street.

Any unclaimed seats will be made available for $10 cash only five minutes before the screenings.

Under GroundSwell Pictures, Johnson and Wright also run the Moon Shadow Film Society, which hosts a screening of an independent film at the Cameo Art House Theatre the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. Fittingly enough, October’s film was The Last Film Festival.

“It is the film Dennis Hopper was working on when he passed away,” Wright said. Hopper stars as a movie producer whose film has been turned down by 3,999 of the 4,000 film festivals in the world.

Like the Indigo Film Festival, the actual filmmakers are often on hand to answer questions and discuss the film after the screening. Also after each Film Society screening, the audience is invited to a reception at the Rainbow Room.

The next Film Society screening is Oddball on Nov. 1. The film is based on the true story of a chicken farmer who trains his mischievous dog to protect a wild penguin sanctuary from fox attacks and in the process tries to reunite his family and save their seaside town. The film is appropriate for the entire family.

Tickets for Moon Shadow Film Society showings can be purchased at the Cameo. 

For more information on the Indigo Film Festival or the Moon Shadow Film Society, visit www.groundswellpictures.co

There is a new name being engraved on the 2016 Cumberland County Golf Championship trophy. Now in its 48th year, the three-day tournament took place Sept. 16-18 at Cypress Lakes Golf Course, bringing many returning long-time participants as well as new players eager to compete for the title of Cumberland County’s best golfer. In the end, it was 26-year-old Thomas Owen who won the title with a score of 210. 

“It felt great. It was the fifth time I have played this tournament. I got a little better every year, and last year, I came in fifth. It is a big boost to my confidence,” said Owen. “I won match play last year, but to win stroke play — it was a boost to know I can do it. I am honored to have my name on the trophy with guys I have looked up to for years — people like Billy West, Gary Robinson and Chris Holland. I have played with them and admired them for years, and to have my name added to that list of champions feels great … It makes me want to play more and win more.”

The Cumberland County Golf Classic Championship is District Attorney Billy West’s favorite tournament. He’s won the title six times. West has played against Owen before and knew Owen would be a tough competitor. West finished in second place tied with J.C. McFadyen, both carding 214. “I really think golf is a gentleman’s sport. It is a sport where you compete, and you certainly try to win, but there is great camaraderie among the players. It is a social sport because you are out there for hours. Doing that over the years, you develop friendships and learn about the other players. You become friends. I told Thomas, obviously, I wanted to win, but, I was really excited to see him win. He is very deserving. It was about the only thing not on his resume. I almost ended up playing with him, and it seemed that he was maybe feeling some pressure and really wanted to win it. My hat is off to him. I remember when I had yet to win a Cumberland County Golf Championship, and it is like a monkey on your back until you get that done.”

Eight-time winner Gary Robinson was unable to compete this year, which Owen and West both agreed changed the dynamics of the tournament. “I think Gary is coming back next year … I look forward to his return,” said West. “I regret that he missed this year. When he plays, he has a good chance to win, but then again, we all want to win it.”

For Owen this win is an important stepping stone to reaching other goals. He calls himself a late bloomer saying he was pretty good as a youngster, but he chose baseball over golf in high school. He returned to golf in college and started entering competitions. “I played a lot in college. That is where I got better at the game mentally. I remember thinking a few years ago that I knew my game was getting better, but I wanted something to show for it. I want to compete at the state level and even the U.S. Amateur. I knew I needed local success, and now, I did it.” 

Under new management, the tournament underwent some changes in direction and format this year. In the past, the hosting golf course had to shoulder the responsibility for coordinating the tournament. This year, Cumberland County’s five local golf courses worked together forming a planning committee with shared responsibilities under the direction of Bill Bowman, founder and publisher of Up & Coming Weekly. Kevin Lavertu, general manager of Gates Four Golf and Country Club is set to host the 2017 tournament. He kicked off the 2016 event with an elegant Opening Ceremony & Pairings Party, inviting contestants, sponsors, local dignitaries and special guests that included major supporter Mac Healy of Healy Wholesale, Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson, Cumberland County Commissioners, State Representative Billy Richardson and N.C. Senator Wesley Meredith. Courtney Stiles, representative for First Tee of the Sandhills was also present and was invited to say a few words about their youth development program, which they hope to establish in Cumberland County. There was much fun, laughter and excitement in the room as the competitors sized up their competition. Each player received a commemorative gift bag with a very special surprise of a free round of golf (for four) at each of the five participating courses. “I think it was a great idea to get everyone together ahead of time. It really built up a sense of camaraderie among the players and generated excitement,” Lavertu said. Gates Four hosts well over 80 tournaments each year. It’s something Lavertu enjoys and he is excited about showing next year’s Cumberland County Golf Classic Championship Classic participants a good time. “We keep the golf course in good playing condition, which of course, is important, but we also look forward to showing everyone hospitality and making sure everyone feels special - like they are a member here — for that weekend.”

The pre-tournament party was new this year, but it’s not the only change in the works for this Cumberland County tradition. According to organizers the CCGC will add a Women’s Division to the tournament. It was announced that Dee Dee Jarman, head basketball coach and senior athletic director at Methodist University, will assist in coordinating that effort. 

Robert Wilson is the PGA Pro at Cypress Lakes Golf Course in Hope Mills, which hosted the tournament this year. There was some pressure being the first to host with so many changes in the works. However, he was impressed with the changes. “The other area golf pros came out and helped, and that made a big difference in the quality of tournament. The main thing is that now that the golf courses are all working together, it will be run consistently each year — and that is a big deal. Now, we will be able to provide the golfers more fun and value for their money … a more competitive experience each year... and other perks they can use.” He added, “The golf course was in good shape and set up fair. We heard nothing but positive comments from the players. We will look forward to next year and plan to spread the word to our friends about the tournament so they can come out and enjoy it, too.”

Fort Bragg’s Stryker Golf Course PGA Pro Jeff Johnson spent a good part of the tournament at Cypress Lakes. He was pleased that Stryker, and the area’s military golfers, have been invited to join the tournament’s rotation. “I would like to see more military members sign up since we will be the host of the Cumberland County Championship Classic in 2020. I think there is a lot of potential for growth here. We joined a little late in the game, so there wasn’t a lot of time to get the word out. Going forward, it will be easier to promote,” said Johnson. “For the first time of the new format, I think it was wonderful. Seventy-seven players was a good start, and I think we can get more than 100 next year. I heard nothing but positive feedback about this year’s changes. The golfers loved the gift bags … they got their money’s worth and then some. I think the pros working together is going to be good for the tournament. The new committee format lets them know they are not alone.” 

Several local businesses and sponsors provided food and beverages all three days of the tournament, including Healy Wholesale, Chick Fil A, Huske Hardware, Kinlaw’s and Scrub Oaks from the North Side. This was also a tournament first. 

Billy West added, “This was unique from other typical amateur golf tournaments. Everything from the Pairings Party, which I thought was a unique and good way to get things started, to the breakfast and lunch and snacks there. These are the things that build camaraderie.” 

So, congratulations to the 2016 Cumberland County Golf Classic Champion Thomas Owen and to the other three CCGC Division Winners: Andy Palma-Open Division Champion, Rick Goforth-Senior Division Champion and Larry Robertson-Super Senior Champion. No doubt, they all will be returning to defend their titles in 2017. 

Up & Coming Weekly is proud to be associated with this event. Owen’s name will be added to the Legacy Trophy that will be on display and showcased at his home course, Highland Country Club, for the next year. Here, you can see all the champions dating back to 1969. No doubt, 2017 will be one for the record books. Get ready and plan on being at Gates Four next year. Anyone interested in participating in the 2017 CCGC, volunteering to help or be an event sponsor may contact Bill Bowman directly at: bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com or 910 391 3859.

Purple Door Productions is a community theater based in Robeson County. Its goal is to enrich, educate and entertain Robeson County and the surrounding communities. For both actors and audiences, this theater is always looking for ways to engage in creating meaningful and diverse productions for children and adults. On Sept. 29-30 and Oct. 1-2, don’t miss Purple Door Productions’ showing of Neil Simon’s California Suite at the A. D. Lewis Theater at Robeson Community College in Lumberton.

Neil Simon’s play California Suite originally opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in April 1976. By June of that year, the play opened on Broadway and played at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre until July of 1977.

The story takes place in Suite 203-04 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Four totally different and unrelated stories unfold throughout the performance. The only thing they have in common is that they all take place in suite 203-04. In one story line, a mother flies in from Manhattan to pick up her daughter from the girl’s screenwriter father. The two are trying to workout living arrangements for their daughter.

Another scene features a Philadelphia businessman who wakes up in the suite next to a prostitute. His wife is on her way up to the suite as he panics to cover up his indiscretion. Next an Academy Award nominee from London, along with her newly-outted husband, struggles with what people will think when they find out her marriage is a sham. Two rich couples from Chicago stay in the suite as well. They come as friend, but things fall apart fast when one husband accuses the other of intentionally injuring his wife.

The play was made into a movie in 1978 starring Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Bill Cosby, Jane Fonda, Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Richard Pryor and Maggie Smith.

The play is produced in partnership with the Robeson Community College Foundation. The RCC Foundation provides scholarships to students who might not otherwise be able to attend RCC. The foundation offers a variety of scholarships, including funds that come with opportunities to serve throughout the community and on campus 

Robeson County Community College was founded in 1965 as part of Fayetteville Technical Institute. There were six full-time employees. Three years later, it became independent and was renamed Robeson Technical Institute. It is now Robeson Community College. The school’s focus is vocational, technical, college transfer and continuing education programs. The college currently has almost 200 full-time employees and close to 300 part-time teachers. 

Showtime on Sept. 29-30 is 7:30 p.m. On Oct. 1-2, the curtain rises at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults; $8 for students; and $5 for RCC staff and students. For tickets or reservations, call 258.0787. Find out more about RCC and the RCC Foundation at www.robeson.edu. 

Fall is in the air and school is in session. In addition to Friday Night Lights, it’s homework and carpooling season. For educators that means testing, teaching and mentoring students — and more. Reuben Stocks is the master brewer at The Mash House, and his wife used to be an educator. 

“They are such a big part of the community. Educators do so much to help kids. Most people who haven’t been involved in education don’t realize how much they do,” he said. 

So when The Mash House management started thinking about how to give back to the community, honoring educators and the work they do seemed like an obvious choice. On Saturday, Oct. 1, The Mash House, in partnership with the Cumberland County Schools, will host a parking lot party. Admission is free and open to the public.

Food and drink tickets are $2 each. The menu includes burgers (two tickets per burger) and beer (one ticket per beer).  Tickets are available for purchase at the door. Educators, though, get four free tickets. “This event is open to the public to come and celebrate teachers and other people who work in the school system, so we will have some free tickets for educators to have a meal on us. We’ll also have live music and corn hole games,” said Stocks. “There will be a TV set up outside for people to keep up with how their team is doing, too. There will be a lot going on. It should be a lot of fun.” 

Attendees can look forward to prizes and giveaways throughout the day as well. The John Dupree Band will provide the live music throughout the day.

Cumberland Count Schools Beginning Teacher Support Coordinator Tina Chapman noted that everyone is invited. It is a great way to show local educators that they have the support of the community. “We’ve invited the assistant principals, principals.” Chapman noted, adding that Cumberland County Schools Board members are also invited. “I have also invited Todd McCAbe, our teacher of the 2016/2017 school year to say a few words.” Mayor Nat Robertson and CCS Superintendent Dr. Frank Till are also scheduled to attend, along with other local dignitaries. 

Beer connoisseurs, come thirsty. Stocks plans to serve the eight staples the Mash House serves; however, expect something new. 

“We will release our Oktoberfest that day. We will also have our Mash House Blonde and IPA for the hop heads that show up.  We will do our red ale, which is a style to fit for those that don’t care for the other three,” he added.

While the party is outside, this is the perfect chance to take a peek at the newly decorated Mash House interior. “We renovated the main dining area. We have new lights and fixtures and new paint and carpet. It has a nice ambience,” said Stocks. “We have a new semi-private dining room to host private events. We are excited about that because previously we could only do that on our patio — and as you know, North Carolina weather can be up and down.”

While the event is a celebration of community educators, Chapman pointed out that public attendance is a big part of the event. “It gives teachers the feeling they are appreciated and valued here. Building relationships with community helps the public to know what the teachers do every day in the classroom and let them know they are valued. The teachers and administrators definitely walk away feeling good about their role in the community and feeling appreciated. This truly is one of the biggest feel-good events of the year for us. Helping to plan things like this is my favorite part of my job.” 

The fun starts at noon and runs through 4 p.m.  Call 867.9223 for more information.

If you are wondering what all the “hollerin’” is about, then you obviously have not heard that the North Carolina Hollerin’ Contest in Spivey’s Corner ended last year. Those in the hollerin’ community did not take that news quietly. Instead, they raised an alarm that a cultural tradition could be lost, and their voice was heard all the way up to New York City. 

Hollerin’ champions from the past made a visit to The Late Show, which hosted its first Hollerin’ Contest. The attention garnered from that and other media events convinced Robbie Goodman, a former Army paratrooper, to put on his boots and get to work organizing the Worldwide Hollerin’ Contest on Oct. 8 at Paradise Acres in the Gray’s Creek community.

Goodman and other champions from the Hollerin’ Contest came together to save the event, which represents a fine southern tradition. Forming a board and a non-profit organization wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but the group succeeded and is planning a party that you won’t soon forget.

The original event was launched in 1969, putting Spivey’s Corner on the world stage. The first contest was held in June 1969 at Midway High School, and it fast became a summer tradition for many. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when there were people like Tom T. Hall and Dolly Parton singing at the contest, it hosted upwards of 5,000 people and extended to almost a week.

Goodman was 10 years old when he brought out his trademark siren and hollered his lungs out in Spivey’s Corner to the delight of the judges, who crowned him the junior champion. That was in 1978. Now, nearly four decades later, Goodman is taking the lead to save the event.

“Hollerin’,” a traditional form of communication used in rural areas to convey long-distance messages, is considered by some to be the earliest form of communication between humans. “Hollers” exist for virtually any communicative purpose imaginable. The hollers featured at the World Wide Hollerin’ festival fall into one of these four categories: distress, functional, communicative or pleasure.

The multi-year teen champion of the National Hollerin’ Festival, Ivy Hinson, hails from Fayetteville. For a great sampling of hollerin’, watch her in the 2009 competition here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUShkSKAMPg.

The World Wide Hollerin’ Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 8. Admission is $3 per person, and visitors are invited to bring their chairs, blankets and coolers and enjoy the contest on the 12-acre Paradise Acres facility. Music, food, contests, crafts and more are on the agenda for this special day.

Entertainment will be provided by Cumberland County Line Bluegrass. From the Piedmont Region of North Carolina and with a style reminiscent of the old bluegrass groups of the past, Cumberland County Line bluegrass offers a mixture of traditional Bluegrass and gospel music. Between playing great music and telling a few tall tales along the way, the group does its best to stir up memories, cause a laugh or two and lift your faith in Jesus Christ. 

Eighty percent of the proceeds from the event are donated to Wags4Tags, an organization that matches trained shelter dogs with veterans suffering from psychological and emotional injuries. More information: www.Wags4Tags.org

For more information on the festival, go to www.WorldwideHollerinFestival.org or call 910-633-4735.

On Saturday, Oct. 29, Fayetteville residents will have the opportunity to avail themselves of a unique adventure: a tandem free fall with members of the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights. The chance comes with the opportunity support research into a rare form of cancer: Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The event, hosted by Kevin and Shawn Grullon, local realtors, honors their memories of their son, Zach, who died from the disease on Jan. 28, 2012. Those who knew Zach refer to him as energetic, adventurous, outgoing and strong-willed. A graduate of Jack Britt High School, Grullon dreamed of serving in the United States military and considered a tandem jump with the U.S. Army Golden Knights a dream come true.

All of that changed in 2010, when he was diagnosed with Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma. The disease, which primarily attacks teens and young adults, is a rare liver cancer. Annually, 200 young adults die from this disease. Some 72,000 teens and young adults are diagnosed with various forms of cancer every year, according to a 2010 Wall Street Journalarticle, of that number, 10,000 die. Until 2008, little research was done in the area of Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma because it is so rare, but that changed when Tucker Davis, the founder of the Firbrolamellar Cancer Foundation, was diagnosed with the disease.

Davis founded the foundation with the hope of finding a cure for this often fatal disease. The foundation’s mission is threefold: Find a cure and treatment options; raise awareness of the disease; and bring attention to teen and young adult cancers.

Grullon’s parents, Kevin and Shawn, have been contributing to that mission since Zach’s death. Zach was diagnosed with FHC in March 2010. He had been dealing with severe stomach pain and nausea for a couple of months. Friends and family didn’t think much of the pain because Zach worked out so hard. After numerous tests and scans, a grapefruit-sized tumor was found on his liver. In April 2010, he had a liver resection, but the cancer had already spread to his lymph nodes. Zach began an intensive round of chemotherapy, but he didn’t let it stop the way he lived his life. He continued to work out and play sports. And, in August 2010, just a couple of months after his high-school graduation, he jumped with the Golden Knights.

The memory of that jump inspired his parents to host the first Free Fall to Fight Cancer on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The event gave individuals the opportunity to perform a tandem jump with former and off-duty members of the Golden Knights, who volunteered for the cause. It was so popular that the Grullons have continued the event and this year, the event is slated for Oct. 8 at Skydive Paraclete XP, located at 132 Airport Drive in Raeford, at 9 a.m. For a $350 donation, individuals will get to jump with the world-famous team and receive a video and photos of their jump to share with friends and family. If you are only interested in the jump and not in having a record of the event, the tandem jump without video or pictures is $225. Those interested in participating in the fundraiser must be at least 18 years of age and weigh less than 235 pounds.

All proceeds from the event will go directly to the Firbrolamellar Cancer Foundation. To register, or for more information, contact Kevin and Shawn Grullon at 910-257-3027 or 910-229-1100 or email grullonteam@gmail.com.

The unavoidable truth is that medical care is often costly. However, maintaining health is important not only for individuals, but for the community as a whole. Recognizing this challenge, Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation was created in 1995 as a philanthropic offshoot of Cape Fear Valley Health. Since its inception, the funds raised by CFVHF have been used to support programs and services that Cape Fear Valley Health provides for the community.

One of the reasons that the Foundation is so valuable is that 100 percent of donations are used to make real, concrete improvements in available healthcare. In the past CFVHF has used funds to provide equipment to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, emergency financial needs for cancer patients and new EKG equipment on EMS vehicles. Cape Fear Valley Health continues to grow, and as such, the foundation tries to keep pace by making sure that the larger facilities still provide quality healthcare for the community. Budgets are limited, but thanks to CFVHF the communities’ health comes first. 

In order to fund expanded programming, this year the Foundation will host the 21st annual Friends of Children Golf and Tennis Classic. The proceeds of this fundraiser will go to supporting children hospitalized at Cape Fear Valley Health. Specifically, they will provide the Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with two new Giraffe Bed Care stations. This equipment creates a womb like environment that significantly increases chances for survival for the more than 600 pre-term infants that the NICU staff cares for every year. The beds provide stable temperatures, protection and safe mobility for access to immediate care.

Both the tennis and the golf tournaments take place on Oct. 6 at Highland Country Club. The golf tournament is presented by Rick Hendrick Toyota, and Lafayette Lincoln is presenting the tennis tournament. Golf sponsorships range from $500 for a player sponsor, which features one dinner ticket and one golfer spot, to the $25,000 community sponsor which includes 12 golfer tickets, 12 dinner tickets, a VIP dinner, event promotions and event recognition. Golfers also receive a premium player gift package, lunch, beverages and access to the beer and wine tasting. The gift package includes a golf shirt and a $100 certificate at the Highland Country Club Pro Shop. 

Sponsorship levels for the tennis tournament begin at $250 with the ball sponsor that includes one player entry, a name on the banner and two wine/beer tastings and dinner tickets. Otherwise it is $60 per player. Alternatively, tickets for just the wine and beer tasting and dinner can be purchased for $50. To register, visit www.capefearvalley.com/golf/. 

In a fun twist on the game, tennis players will compete in tennis poker. For every game that is won the player will randomly choose a card from a deck. Each card corresponds to a specific number of points. At the end of the day the player with the most points is the winner!

There will also be a raffle. Tickets are $25 each or 5 for $100. Purchasing $100 or more in tickets will also include two admissions to the beer and wine tasting dinner. The prizes for the raffle are a choice between five fantastic trips for four. The options include the Master’s Tournament, Sonoma Wine Country, any college sports game, a golf trip to Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., or a tennis trip to the U.S. Open in New York. For more information, visit www.cfvfoundation.org. 

It’s late on a weekday night. You’ve gotten stuck at the office trying to finish up that big project. As you leave the building, you realize that you are the only person there. The parking lot is empty except for your car. Until that moment, you never realized how dark the parking lot was or how many bushes are situated around it. As you walk quickly, you hear a noise … panic starts to rise. You see a man standing between you and the safety of your vehicle-what do you do?

That’s a scenario that women all across America may face at some time or another. It might not just be you by yourself. It might be you and your small child or you and your teenaged daughter. Knowing how to act when faced with danger is important. If you don’t have a plan before you come face to face with it, you probably are going to freeze and then the unimaginable can happen.

Candy Sugarman, a California native who now calls Fayetteville home, doesn’t want any woman to find herself  in that position. To that end, Sugarman has organized Feminine and Fierce: A Self-Protection & Defense event on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the AIT Building at 421 Maiden Lane in Downtown Fayetteville. 

Surgarman, who is also a member of the Gun Powder Gals, an area shooting organization for women, realized that many women may not feel comfortable with guns and may want another alternative for self-defense. That idea had Sugarman looking for a way to educate and inform women on how they can protect themselves.

“For the last several months I’ve been working on putting this event together,” said Sugarman. “A lot of women don’t want guns or they can’t take them the places they have to go like to Fort Bragg. So there has to be a means to teach women how to defend themselves so they are not wandering around defenseless.”

Sugarman becomes passionate when she talks about the need for women to be able to defend themselves. She sees too many women who, by lack of information, make themselves victims. The event is not going to focus only on the physical means women can defend themselves, but also the common sense steps they can take to ensure their own safety.

“Something as simple as looking under your car before you walk up to it is a big deal,” said Sugarman. “I had a friend tell me she refused to do that because she refused to spend her life being afraid.”

Sugarman believes that recognizing that the world is a dangerous place and taking common sense steps to protect yourself is not living in fear, rather it is taking control of the situation. And that’s what she hopes to achieve with the upcoming event. She wants to give women common sense ways to keep themselves from becoming a victim.

She noted that there is no one size fits every situation response. One solution is not very often the answer to a problem. Women need multiple methods of self-protection and defense, such as martial arts or physical self-defense, non-lethal forms of defense such as knuckles and stun guns, firearms training, information about situational awareness, home defense and even identity theft.  That really gave root to the idea of the upcoming event that brings together various methods of self-protection, defense, situational awareness and home protection. To do that, she has pulled together a number of community resources. On tap to present at the event are:

•North Carolina Concealed Carry Firearms Group who will discuss using firearms to protect and defend your home

•The Range Complexdiscussing the importance of training and practice using a firearm for defense

•Damsel in Defense by Misty (Independent Damsel Pro)who will share non-lethal ways of self-protection (stun guns, etc.)

•Jackie Carter of Legal Shield who will talk about ways to protect yourself from identity theft. 

•Personal Defense Concepts are covered through the Refuse to Be A Victim program that is sponsored by the NRA.

•Gill Security Systems Incwill cover securing your home via cameras and alarm systems.

•Academy of Christian Martial Arts will teach women that their body is their weapon by teaching women what they can do to get away or protect themselves from an attacker

•The Fayetteville Police department will be on hand to talk about the current crimes that are committed against women and girls.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/feminine-fierce-a-self-protection-defense-event-tickets-26523604816Fe. Individual ticket are $67 and groups with more than 20 members can purchase tickets for $58. 

 Every October the Highland Games bring people from all over the state to participate in a fantastic exhibition of true Scottish culture in Laurinburg. Founder and chairman Bill Caudill describes the Scotland County Highland Games as, “like a day-long visit to Scotland without having to fly.” These games are particularly special because of their connection to the local history. “Being in this region, which was the largest Highland Scottish settlement in North America until well into the 19th century, there is a lot of Scottish identity and Scottish-American history in this area. This is one of very few, if any, Scottish Games that are truly held in a region that was important in the history of Scottish settlement in the USA,” Caudill explained. The event is scheduled for Oct. 1 at the John Blue Home and Historical Complex in Laurinburg.

It all begins with the opening ceremonies. “My own favorite part is the opening ceremonies. To see all the pipe bands on parade for the massed pipes and drums, the Scottish clans marching by with their banners and tartans waiving and to see the crowd assembled,” Caudill said, “As the founder and chairman of the event, it still gives me chills to see the dreams which I had — which were shared by volunteers who make the event happen — come to fruition. There’s no festival event like it in our region that has this much color and pageantry!”

In the past years, attendance has reached upwards of 5,000. It is easy to see why the event is so popular when the schedule is packed full of incredible things to do and experience. One of the most exciting displays is the athletic and artistic competitions. “Some may know of the athletic events that are traditional in the Highlands of Scotland, however for those who have not seen a burly man (and some women) try to throw what looks like a small telephone pole then, this, you gotta see. There are also several dozen Highland Dancers and solo pipers and drummers who will be competing for prizes during the day — the first thing one will hear on exiting their car will be the sound of bagpipes in the distance. Fourteen pipe bands will be competing for prizes in the afternoon’s pipe band contest,” Caudill said. 

There is even a place for children to try out their skills on miniature version of the adult athletic competitions. The fairgrounds will also be packed full of Clan Societies willing to share the histories of their clans and assist others in finding their Scottish roots. There are also vendors offering everything from kilts, to Celtic Jewelry to even the classic culinary favorite - Haggis. There will also be the familiar meat pies, pizza, burgers and hotdogs. Entertainment continues at 6 p.m. with the Celtic Rock group “Seven Nations”.

The Highland Games is truly focused on the audience. The entire family can come and enjoy a whole day of music, culture and fun. The Highland Games will be held at the John Blue Historical Complex, which also offers a great glimpse into the Scottish-American heritage of the region as it features historic homes and agricultural buildings that all have ties to Scottish-American families. For more information, visit www.schgnc.org/index.html.

Fayetteville’s proposed $33 million Single-A baseball stadium will be built on city-owned property behind the former Prince Charles Hotel without a residential property-tax increase. The ballpark’s construction cost is tied to several funding sources as shown in the pie chart to the right. The Fayetteville City Council will own the facility, which will be operated under contract with the Houston Astros. Both parties have agreed to a 30-year lease. “The private development will be outlined in the master development agreement with the city and private developers,” said City Councilman Kirk deViere. He chaired the subcommittee that came up with the plan. 

The funding model for the stadium includes investment from the city, county and private sector. County Commissioners unanimously approved their participation in the project last week. 

“This is a great example of how the city and county can work together for economic growth. This project will have an annual impact of over $7 million dollars and over $20 million dollars during construction,” deViere added. 

City and County governments will use tax increment financing of revenues earned from new construction added to the tax rolls in the specified district adjacent to the stadium

A major part of the overall project is renovation of the former Prince Charles Hotel behind which the stadium will be built. New owners of the hotel plan to spend $15 million in renovations to build 62 apartments and a luxury penthouse on the eighth floor. PCH Holdings also has a memorandum of understanding with the city to develop property immediately surrounding the ballpark.

The City of Fayetteville is taking a new approach to gutter clutter. The Parks and Recreation Department’s landscaping division now has three two-man crews charged with right-of-way maintenance. Each crew is assigned a pickup truck with trash picker-uppers and weed eaters. “Their job is to patrol major and minor thoroughfares and gather up roadside trash,” said Director Michael Gibson. They head out each morning to pick up debris that motorists have tossed out their windows. The city contracts with a temp agency to provide full-time seasonal workers 38 weeks out of the year. They take off the late winter, early spring period, according to Gibson, who says these crews come in from a day’s work with truckloads of debris. “We’re cleaner than most other cities,” declared Gibson. The new program was funded this fiscal year by City Council.

 

 

Airport Wins Federal Grants

Fayetteville Regional Airport has received the first of three $10 million grants to expand the terminal building. The grant is part of an overall $30 million project to renovate and upgrade the terminal at the airport, according to Director Brad Whited. The terminal building was built in 1969. The last major renovation cost about $7 million and was done in three phases, which were completed in 2006. The new grant is provided by the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program. The “Airport and Airport Commission are very excited to be awarded $10 million in 2016 from the FAA’s discretionary funding for non-hub airport terminals,” said Whited. He says the multi-year project will transform the 47-year-old terminal by updating the look and functionality to modern standards. Fourth District Congressman David Price (D-NC), Ranking Member of the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, made the announcement. The $30 million upgrade of the terminal will be paid for mostly by the federal government with the rest coming from airport revenues. The renovation project will be done in phases and includes replacement of Concourse A and expansion of the passenger screening area. Completion is scheduled for the summer of 2019.

 

 

 

Suspect Government Fraud?

The City of Fayetteville’s Office of Internal Audit is conducting a “Doing What’s Right” campaign in an effort to uncover fraud in city government. A city news release says the project is intended to “reduce incidents of fraud, waste and abuse that affect the City of Fayetteville.” The news release did not indicate what prompted the campaign. Residents and employees are encouraged to report suspicious activity by calling the fraud hotline at 1-877-339-4715. Examples of city-related fraud include: theft of city property, using city property for personal use, payroll or timekeeping scams, fictitious invoices for goods and services and accepting bribes, kickbacks and illegal gratuities. The city also suggests that suspicious activity in the private sector be reported to appropriate law enforcement agencies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Amendment

A Fayetteville high school teacher is being criticized for desecrating the American flag to illustrate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Massey Hill Classical High School history teacher Lee Francis’ first choice was to burn the flag, but when he asked if any of his students had a cigarette lighter, no one responded. So, instead, he dropped the flag on the floor and stomped on it. At least that’s the account of Sara Taylor, the parent of a student at the school. She posted a photo of the crumpled flag on Facebook and the response was predictable. Schools Superintendent Dr. Frank Till said there are better ways to teach students about freedom of speech. “There are a lot of examples in archives we could use that were appropriate,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Voting Next Month

Early voting for the Nov. 8 general election begins Thursday, Oct. 20 and ends Saturday, Nov. 5. Citizens who want to take advantage of early voting, but are not registered to vote, may do same-day registration during the early voting period if they provide acceptable documentation. The changes are the result of federal court intervention overturning restrictive state laws. Early voting is at the Cumberland County Board of Elections Office and nine other locations across Cumberland County. The revised schedule results from action taken by the N.C. Board of Elections when the Cumberland County Elections Board declined to act. Remote early voting locations include Cliffdale Recreation Center, East Regional Branch Library, E.E. Miller Recreation Center, Gray’s Creek Recreation Center, Hope Mills Recreation Center, Kiwanis Recreation Center, North Regional Branch Library, Smith Recreation Center and Spring Lake Community Center. 

Hours at the Elections Board Office in downtown Fayetteville are:

Oct. 20-Nov. 4 (Monday through Friday) 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Oct. 29 and Nov. 5 (Saturdays) 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Oct. 30 (Sunday) 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Hours of operation at most remote locations are:

Oct. 20-Nov. 4 (Monday through Friday) 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Oct. 29 & Nov. 5 (Saturdays) 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Oct. 30 (Sunday) 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Spring Lake early voting doesn’t begin until Oct. 27:

Oct. 27-Nov. 4 (Monday through Friday) 11:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29 & Nov. 5 (Saturdays) 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Oct. 30 (Sunday) 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.

 

Firefighters and EMS Workers Honored

Cumberland County Emergency Services, the Fayetteville Fire Department and the Fire Chief’s Association of Cumberland County will conduct an annual memorial service Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. to honor firefighters and EMS workers who have sacrificed their lives serving the people of Cumberland County and Fort Bragg. The service will be held at the Emergency Services Memorial on the campus of Fayetteville Technical Community College next to Cumberland Hall. Names of first responders listed on the memorial are: Joseph E. Boles, Paul I. Boyer III, William I. Capps, Luther P. Horne, Ferrell D. Hood, Jesse M. Jones, Steve E. Russell Jr., David C. Sharp II, Jesse U. Shockley Jr. and John C. Tyner. Persons wishing to purchase memorial bricks or have bricks placed on the memorial walkway will find information at BravetheFire.com. 

 

 

 

 

 

The two most experienced members of the City of Fayetteville’s senior management team are being terminated. Senior Deputy City Manager Kristoff Bauer and Deputy Manager Rochelle Small-Toney have resigned effective September 30. They would not comment when questioned by Up & Coming Weekly. They would neither confirm nor deny reports that they had been asked to step down or be fired. Interim City Manager Doug Hewett declined to confirm that he had asked for their resignations, citing North Carolina’s personnel laws. 

Mayor Nat Robertson said he had no direct knowledge of the dual terminations. 

“I’ve not been notified of any change of status,” he said. “Mr. Hewett is the city manager. I have the utmost confidence that he’ll do what’s best for the city and its residents,” Robertson added. 

Up & Coming Weekly learned of the deputy managers impending departures from sources with direct knowledge of the situation. It’s believed the Fayetteville City Council spoke of issues pertaining to Bauer and Small-Toney in a closed meeting earlier this month. Council members Bill Crisp and Ted Mohn are said to have objected, fearing the body was skating on thin ice by evaluating city employees. Under the council/manager form of local government in North Carolina, elected bodies hire, evaluate and fire only their chief executives and attorneys. In Fayetteville, Bauer and Small-Toney serve at the pleasure of the city manager. Termination notices involving Bauer and Small-Toney are said to have been pending for at least 90 days. Small-Toney submitted her resignation and has already cleaned out her office in city hall. Bauer reportedly will stay on as a consultant to Hewett for an undetermined period of time. 

Bauer, 50, became deputy city manager seven years ago. He was hired Aug. 8, 2009 by then-City Manager Dale Iman. He holds dual bachelor’s degrees, an MBA and a law degree, all from the University of Washington. His annual salary was $175,193. Small-Toney, 60, was hired by former City Manager Ted Voorhees on Mar. 3, 2013. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was paid $171,566.

Ironically, Interim City Manager Hewett has Small-Toney to thank for his return to Fayetteville in the summer of last year. He had worked as an assistant manager here under Iman until 2012 when both left. On Small-Toney’s recommendation, Voorhees brought Hewett to Fayetteville in a temporary capacity to head up a reorganized Permitting and Inspections Department. Last Spring, City Council passed over Bauer and Small-Toney when it tapped Hewett to succeed Voorhees who had been fired. Small-Toney has been on the job market since getting her notice, but recently withdrew an application to be city manager of Petersburg, Virginia, a city on the verge of financial collapse. Despite his talents, Bauer has irked several community leaders because of his caustic personality. Police Chief Harold Medlock had considered resigning because of Bauer’s management style. Hewett removed Bauer from the chain of command when he became interim manager, and assumed management oversight of the police department. Medlock has since decided to retire, and coincidentally does so Oct. 1.

One of the great moments of this, or frankly of any presidential campaign, occurred last month when Hillary Clinton appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Showto perform a feat of strength by attempting to open a pickle jar. It was Festivus in August. Any year you have Festivus more than once is a very good year. In keeping with the Festivus theme, Hillary’s Grand Opening was followed by the Airing of Grievances by Republicans. They bitterly complained the jar lid was loosened to allow Hillary to free the pickles. The Donald complained Picklegate was just another example of Hillary playing fast and loose with the truth. Unmoored from his campaign staff and his meds and unshackled from his teleprompter, he riffed comparing the Clinton Foundation with George Costanza’s fake Human Fund, “Money for People.”

Hillary replied to The Donald’s Picklegate charge stating that “nothing could be further from the truth” that someone had loosened the jar lid. Politicians and their Facebook supporters constantly attack their opponents by using the phrase “nothing could be further from the truth” to disparage an opponent’s statement. This got me thinking about quantum physics and Aunt Bea’s pickles. Ponder the phrase “nothing could be further from the truth.” How is it possible for more than one thing to be furthest from the truth? If the truth is a single point on a straight line, then only one thing can be furthest from it. Yet politicians keep telling us that things said by their opponents are the furthest from the truth. It doesn’t make geometric sense.

When The Donald says that he never led the birther charge that Obama can’t be President because he was born on the planet Venus, Democrats will say nothing could be further from the truth. If Hillary says the private email server was for convenience only, the Republicans will say nothing could be further from the truth. How can birtherism and emailgate both be further from the truth than the other? Only one can be further from the truth. As the King of Siam once told Anna, “Is a puzzlement.”

If instead of the truth being a point on a straight line, what if the truth is a point in the middle of a circle surrounded by political lies? Then multiple false statements can appear on the diameter of the circle. Each political lie , if not further from the truth than the other lies, would at least be equidistant from the truth with the other political lies. Sort of like the Knights of the Round Table. This truthian geometry makes my head hurt.

Instead of thinking about Hillary’s pickle jar, let us ponder Aunt Bea’s pickles. This was the classic Andy Griffith episode. Aunt Bea had many fine qualities but making pickles wasn’t one of them. She made 18 jars of pickles that tasted like kerosene cucumbers. Kind hearted but gastric sensitive, Andy and Barney, unable to hurt Aunt Bea’s feelings or eat her pickles, switch out her pickles with store bought pickles. They rave so much about how good her pickles are that Aunt Bea decides to enter her pickles in the county fair. Aunt Bea is unaware she is about to enter store-bought pickles. At first Andy figures they will just not tell Aunt Bea about the pickle swap because its just a county fair contest and it really doesn’t matter who wins.

Then the moral dilemma arises. Aunt Bea’s best friend Clara has won the last 11 pickle contests at the fair. Clara drops by Andy’s office and tells him how much it means to her to win the pickle contest. Andy , conscience stricken, has a great quote when explaining to Barney why they can’t let Aunt Bea’s store-bought pickles win over Clara’s homemade pickles. “What’s small potatoes to some folks can be mighty important to others.”

In order to keep the contest fair, Andy and Barney eat all of Aunt Bea’s store bought pickles leading Aunt Bea to make a whole mess of new kerosene pickles. Aunt Bea’s real pickles lose to Clara at the fair. Clara is happy. Justice and honest pickles prevail. Aunt Bea is so thrilled that Barney and Andy liked her pickles that she makes 18 new jars of kerosene pickles for them to eat.

Today’s moral: Nothing could be further from the truth than entering store bought pickles in the county fair. Or as Shakespeare almost said, “Would a kerosene pickle by any other name smell as sweet?” 

If you’re a soldier you’ve probably figured out how to get to work at Fort Bragg and home again each day, despite the new system of roads. But, if you haven’t driven to Fort Bragg or Spring Lake from Fayetteville in a while, you’ll likely get lost. Take it from this reporter! I’ve lived in Fayetteville for 50 years. I’m impressed with the new system of limited access highways and overpasses that have sprung up around Fort Bragg. And we all know why. 

For decades the Army has lobbied state government for a faster, direct route to I-95 so officials can move mechanized units more quickly to North Carolina seaports. Since 911, the need has been more urgent, and, the state has accelerated its road building in the Fayetteville/Fort Bragg area. The future I-295, also known as the Outer Loop, is now open from I-95 to Fort Bragg. Construction continues along the corridor, and by Christmas it should extend all the way to the All American Expressway. State DOT officials believe at that point, the federal Department of Transportation will allow the state to officially designate the loop as I-295.

But, I digress! I decided to see if I could traverse the new system of roads without getting lost (keep in mind I should know my way around). I chose to take an easy route during the pre-dawn hours when most soldiers go to work. I knew Bragg Boulevard had been closed, and that I’d have to turn onto the Airborne and Special Operations Highway to get over to Murchison Road. No problem. So far so good. I was looking for signs that would direct me to Randolph Street, a main entrance to post. I ignored getting off the highway at Honeycutt Road. Big mistake … I ended up in Spring Lake. 

I did a U-turn at Spring Avenue and headed back toward post. Someone who hadn’t been here in a while would be surprised to see Bragg Boulevard no longer exists as you leave Spring Lake. Road construction along N.C. 87 in town sends traffic directly to the new Murchison Road. As I left town,  I was still looking for Randolph Street. I noticed many of the cars ahead of me were turning right onto a long ramp so I followed. It was not marked. That was at 6:43 a.m. Three lanes of one-way traffic stalled along the ramp. Hundreds of cars were at a dead stop, occasionally inching forward. Half an hour later, I crossed Bragg Boulevard and realized I was on Randolph Street. No signs anywhere! 

I turned around at the gate and headed back toward Fayetteville. I took the next exit onto well-marked Honeycutt Road. Signs indicated a welcome center. Traffic wasn’t nearly as bad and before long I reached the Honeycutt gate. I asked the M.P. where the welcome center was. He said I’d have to go to the All American gate across town…that there is no welcome center on Honeycutt, despite what the signs said.

I wondered about the contradiction and why so many other signs were vague or non-existent. So I asked. “Thank you so much for your observations,” said N.C. DOT Division 6 Engineer Greg Burns. “I will ask our staff to investigate and coordinate with Fort Bragg staff on ideas to improve signing,” he added. 

Before I wrote columns for Up & Coming Weekly, I wrote editorials for our family broadcasting business, one of the few broadcasting companies in the country to share its opinions regularly. Another is Capital Broadcasting in Raleigh, parent of WRAL.  I have also spent decades exchanging political opinions in public and in private with all sorts of people, those who agree with me and those who do not.

This is a long way of saying the First Amendment is not theoretical to me.  It is incorporated into my daily life and has been since I first remember talking politics with my contemporaries, other junior high school students at the old Teen Club on Rowan Street.  The First Amendment was woven into my soul in 9th grade civics, a course that although I did not know at the time, would shape my adult life to this very moment.  The First Amendment is as fundamental to me as food, clothing and shelter. 

It is also why the story of Lee Francis, a teacher at Massey Hill Classical High School, snagged my attention immediately.

Francis is a history teacher at a rigorous school with many accelerated students who applied to be there and who are college bound and beyond.  In teaching a lesson involving a First Amendment case, Texas v. Johnson, Francis illustrated the point that free expression is not necessarily just verbal or written by putting his foot on an American flag.  He apparently tapped his foot on the flag more than once, at which point at least one student left the classroom.

A public firestorm ensued with some saying Francis was not only making a First Amendment point to his students but also exercising his own rights as an American citizen.  Others said he desecrated our American flag and did so in front of a classroom of impressionable high school students.  The Cumberland County School System initially suspended Francis, with pay, and later added a 10-day non-paid suspension.  In the meantime, Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West said his office would not prosecute Francis because he was acting within the protection of the First Amendment.

Talk about a teachable moment in a year when campaign ugliness and name calling have reached heights even long-time political observers have trouble stomaching, First Amendment rights not withstanding.

My own first reaction to this local brouhaha was “thank goodness we have teachers like Lee Francis.”  

No need to dwell on what we all know about North Carolina teachers.  Our state has gone from the national average in teacher pay to the bottom of the national barrel, and our teachers are fleeing in droves north, south and west to states that pay them better.  Then there is the reality that most teachers are and have traditionally been women.  A man standing before a classroom is a statistical oddity, and we need more of them not only to teach but to model for our children.  Whatever your feelings about the Massey Hill flag incident, it is hard not to be thankful that teachers like Lee Francis are in our classrooms helping our children understand what it means to be an American.

That being said, could Francis have made his point in a way that did not offend others and in a way that did not involve his foot on the American flag?

Certainly he could have.

But would his point made as powerful an impression as did his foot did?

We cannot know for sure, of course, but I doubt it.  Our mothers told us that actions speak louder than words, and our mothers were right.  The point Francis was attempting to make — and did make in my opinion, is that our Constitution and specifically the First Amendment allow us to share our thoughts and opinions whether those on the receiving end like or agree with them or not.  This was a novel concept when our forebears adopted it in the late 18th century, and it has served our nation so well for more than 200 years that other nations have modeled their Constitutions on ours.  Our right of free expression is ours no matter what our government, the Cumberland County School system or you and I think about what is being expressed.

What happened in a Massey Hill Classical High School history class earlier this month was indeed a teachable moment for everyone — Lee Francis, his students and the rest of us.  I am grateful that from time to time we have such moments to remind us of what a great nation we all call home.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Being a journalist, the 1st Amendment to our Constitution is mighty important to me. I have often found myself having to bite my tongue when I see or hear something that goes far beyond the pale, but do so because I know that it is that individual’s right to express themselves in ways that do not make sense to me, that do not make me comfortable.

As a journalist, I very much buy into the idea that “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Although, sometimes, that is not easy. Such was the case this past week in Cumberland County. By now, everyone has heard that  Lee Francis, the Massey Hill teacher who attempted to teach his students about the 1st Amendment by stepping on the flag, has been suspended  for 10 days for his object lesson. So that’s old news. But maybe, there is something that we all have missed.

Francis, who has been very vocal with the media — local and national — over the past week, has made no bones of the fact that he believes what he was doing was right and that the students, parents and community are the ones who are out of step. I disagree. I believe that Francis is the one out of the step.

There is no doubt that Francis has the right to disrespect our flag. Our Supreme Court ensured that. There is also no doubt that Francis, as the teacher, has the right to set the rules of his classroom. But what Francis cannot demand, but what he must earn, is the respect of his students, their parents and our community. 

This is where, I believe, he has failed miserably.

Before one moves into a community, they should learn about the community. They should learn the social mores, the beliefs, the attitude of the community. If what they believe is at great odds with that community, then perhaps it is not the place for them to be. 

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to recognize the type of community that exists in Cumberland County. Cumberland County is a military community. There are more heroes in this community than you can shake a stick at because we are, after all, the Home of the 82nd Airborne and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. There are probably more kids in our schools with dads and moms deployed than there are with them at home. There are also many families who have lost loved ones in the wars over the past 16 years — families who have lost friends and neighbors during the wars. So calling our community The All-American Community is a pretty good indicator about how people feel about their country and its symbols.

This is something that Francis, who chose to move to this community, should have understood when he began teaching the community’s students. Francis should have learned about his students. He should have known how many of them have family members serving. He should have considered that there may be kids in his school whose parents came back home covered in an American Flag. If he understood all of those things, he would have understood that his action, was much like the person yelling fire in a movie theater. His action was inflammatory. He has acknowledged that. He was trying to make a point. When you go out of your way to make a point through inflammatory activities, then you can’t be surprised that you get burned. It’s called using sound judgement, something that I think was missing from his object lesson and definitely from his actions following the event.

If Francis, in fact, was trying to teach an object lesson, than he should not have been surprised by some of  his students reactions or the community’s. You see, another great tenet of democracy is civil disobedience, which is a refusal to obey governmental demands or commands, especially in a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government. That’s what the two students who walked out of class and took the flag with them did. They exercised their right to challenge their leader (teacher) who had demanded something from them that they simply could not stomach. Those students and parents who made their voice heard could not stomach a teacher, someone who is supposed to act wisely, doing the contrary. Yes, he had the right to do what he did — and they had the right to let him know they did not agree.

Superintendent Till also had the right to look at the kind of judgement Francis used in the classroom, and, like many in the community, he found it lacking. So Francis earned a 10-day suspension. His first cry was for the student who sent out the picture to be punished. That student was exercising their right of free speech to say they did not agree. 

Francis has had his 15 minutes of fame. Now maybe he can get serious about teaching.